Seeing Through the Shadows
by taylaca
Summary: When someone unexpected arrives in Camelot, Arthur is overwhelmed by the deceptions of those around him. Secrets are revealed, lies are told and friendships are tested. Meanwhile, Morgana enacts a plan to take Arthur's throne. Reveal fic. A sequel to Behind the Shadows.
1. Prologue

**This is a sequel to my fic Behind the Shadows, so I would highly recommend reading that one first. This one could probably be read on its own as well. All you really need to know is that it is set near the end of season 4 and Arthur is aware that there is a sorcerer named Emrys protecting Camelot.**

 **Once again, the story is all Arthur's POV, except for the prologue, which is Morgana's this time.**

* * *

 **Prologue**

Morgana waded into the Pool of Nemhain, clutching the magical item that her sister had given to her tightly in her hands. The words of the Dochraid echoed in her mind, telling her how to spend the coin that was valued at the price of a soul.

"…cast the coin into its depth and your wish will be granted."

The coin held the power to bring a single soul from the land of the dead to this world and bind it to her will. She could only do this once and hated to use up her single most powerful weapon, but she also knew from the moment that Agravaine had told her the latest news from Camelot that drastic measures were needed.

Emrys had shown himself in the citadel and Arthur and anyone who mattered in Camelot knew about him. According to Agravaine, Arthur had been unaware of Emrys until now, but if Emrys was on the move, he may not be intending to work independently from the king for long. Morgana couldn't risk Emrys and Arthur forming an alliance. But more than that, she saw an opportunity. She could use this new situation to make Arthur turn on Emrys. Why fight your enemies yourself, she figured, when you can make them destroy each other. And in the moment when Emrys was killed or turned against Arthur, none of the other fools who opposed her would have the power to thwart the magic she would unleash that would allow her to finally take her rightful place on the throne.

Unfortunately for Arthur, she knew him as well as he knew himself. She knew exactly how to make him hate Emrys more than he had ever hated anyone in his life.

She concentrated on what she wanted more than anything and threw the coin into the waters.

For a moment nothing happened, before the surface stirred and bubbled and a figure rose up out of the water before her.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Arthur had been doing a lot of thinking in the past few weeks since his trip to the forest of Magnaroth and the events that had ensued afterwards. Many of his questions about the life-view shattering issues that had been raised had gone unanswered in the end, and reeling over the events repeatedly in his mind was starting to seem futile.

It did not help that his councillors still insisted on having long discussions about the whereabouts and potential threat of the sorcerer Emrys. Arthur had been eager to join in these discussions at first, hoping he would discover something about the mysterious man, but he soon realized that there was nothing to learn on the topic from the people around him. None of his knights, guards or councillors had ever even heard of Emrys before. Even Gaius claimed no knowledge of the man. Agravaine was very keen on the topic and always brought it up at every meeting, but never contributed anything useful to the discussions.

The only piece of information that he had gleamed on the topic after weeks of boring meetings with circular discussions was when Geoffrey de Monmouth had mentioned that the word "Emrys" meant "immortal" in the druid tongue. However, other than as a clue that Emrys might be a druid, or at least that his parents probably were since they would be the ones who had chosen his name, this gave him no useful information.

Arthur had gotten to the point where his main concern during repetitive discussions about the implications of Emrys' motives and possible return was simply keeping his eyes open and trying to look vaguely concerned. He had even stopped wondering if every person he passed in the hallways might secretly be the sorcerer.

His interest in Emrys' identity stemmed more out of an insatiable curiosity than of distrust of the man. The more Arthur looked back on events in past years the more he was convinced that Emrys really must have been protecting Camelot with magic just as he had said. There were too many unexplained miraculous events to believe otherwise. It would finally explain how an immortal army had simply exploded on its own, how Cornelius Sigan went from devastating the citadel with gargoyles to being trapped in a jewel, and how hundreds of people trapped in an enchanted sleep suddenly woke up of their own accord.

Certain that Emrys was not a threat to his kingdom, Arthur was much less concerned with the identity of the man than with the things that he had said when Arthur had spoken with him.

As much as he did not want to address the issue, he simply could not ignore the creeping doubts in the back of his mind that whispered that he was currently ruling a kingdom where unjust laws condemned innocent people for nothing more than how they were born.

He had tried ignoring it, telling himself that even if a few individuals suffered because of his laws, this was necessary for the protection of many more innocent subjects in his kingdom, but Arthur did not want to be the kind of king who allowed anyone to be left behind. He had sworn to himself years ago that when he ruled, no one in his kingdom, no matter how common or noble, would be denied respect, justice or the opportunity to prove themselves. It was only now that he was king that he realized how difficult such a thing could be to achieve. Even his courtship of Guinevere was hardly as smooth as he always imagined kingship would make it. While he had ultimate authority on such matters, castle gossip, the disapproval of councillors and nobles, and the hints from foreign dignitaries of alternative matches that would benefit the kingdom dogged his very footsteps. If it was this hard for him to make such a small change to the status quo that hardly even affected those who objected, he didn't want to think about what an outcry there would be if he even suggested a change in the laws against magic.

Even his own implemented systems of governance were working against him. His father had consulted councillors for advice on their topics of expertise, but allowed no one in his kingdom to have any real input in his decisions. In an effort to give a voice to a wider range of people, Arthur had ruled that any major decisions affecting the kingdom such as changes to established laws or declarations of war must be discussed and voted on by a council of respected elders before the king could make a ruling. Arthur no longer had the power to overturn laws without either getting the support of his councillors, or spitting in the face of the system of shared power he had established and overruling them. And Arthur really couldn't see getting any of his councillors on board with legalizing magic even if he wanted to.

Even the smallest hint towards such a notion could set off an unfortunate chain of events with unforeseen consequences. Arthur knew that a king's hold on his kingdom is more fragile than most people realize. He had the love and respect of his people and to forsake that could well lead to bloody rebellion or civil war.

But Arthur was never one to back down from something just because it seemed daunting. This was perhaps why he simply could not dismiss the notion from his mind that he should be doing something about the issue of the supposed "good sorcerers" who, if they truly existed as Emrys claimed, were being persecuted unjustly under his own rule.

Arthur knew that he had been withdrawn lately, mainly because he had not wanted to voice his doubts out loud. He had been avoiding everyone recently but he was starting to realize that he really needed to speak to someone about this or he would go insane drowning in his own thoughts and never finding any answers. Of course, there was only one person that Arthur knew he could trust to hear him out without judgement and offer honest advice full of unexpected wisdom that Arthur would never give credit to, lest it go to his head.

"Merlin," Arthur looked up from his desk, which he had been staring thoughtfully at for half the morning, and looked at the man who was changing his sheets across the room, "do you think Emrys was telling the truth – that it is possible for people to be born with magic?"

Merlin looked up from him work, face serious.

"Maybe you should ask Gaius," he said hesitantly.

Gaius probably would know better than anyone, but despite having once used magic, he had always been Uther's most trusted ally in the fight against it. Arthur really didn't want to have this conversation with him, lest he face the raised eyebrow of silent judgement.

"I'm asking _you_ ," he said to Merlin with a stern gaze daring him to even try to wiggle out of this conversation.

Merlin took the hint and answered him properly this time, "Well if it was true it would make a lot of sense."

Arthur waited for Merlin to continue. He had already thought to himself that it would make sense of a lot of things but was desperate to hear someone else's thoughts on the matter.

"I mean," Merlin continued, "my friend Will, he um, he never told me much about his magic, but he always had it since we were kids. And where would he learn something like that in a place like Ealdor anyways?"

Arthur has completely forgotten that Merlin had once been friends with a sorcerer. Merlin had certainly survived the association without Will turning on him. And the one time Arthur had met Will, he had only used his magic to save the town and had then selflessly taken a bolt to save Arthur's life. He could be a perfect example of exactly the kind of sorcerer that Emrys had been talking about – a regular person born with powers they can't control, forced to either hide in fear or seek magical training.

"Was Will able to control his magic?" Arthur asked, probing for details that would confirm or disprove Emrys' description.

"Yes, I mean, no. That is – not really," said Merlin unhelpfully.

"So he never actually learned how to use it?"

"He didn't know any spells or anything. Stuff would just kind of happen, when he was upset or scared," Merlin explained, "He couldn't control it most of the time."

That sounded eerily like Emrys' exact description of what he had called a "warlock". And if even one such person existed, surely that confirmed that he had been telling the truth. But Arthur now realized that he had almost been hoping for Merlin to say something like, "people born with magic? Gaius says that's impossible," because that would have allowed him to simply put the issue aside in good conscience. Now that Emrys' words had been confirmed by a trusted eye-witness account, he was morally obligated to search for a solution to the issue.

"But if some people can't help having magic," he asked, "does that make it wrong to outlaw it?"

Merlin set an intense gaze on him and said quietly, "I think it is wrong to punish someone for something outside of their control."

Arthur felt like he was having the same argument he had been having with himself for the past several weeks again, just out loud this time.

"But the law is needed to protect the people of Camelot. If magic was allowed, how could I protect my people from it?"

"You could still apply the law to those who use magic to commit crimes, just the same as if they had done it without magic."

Merlin made it sound so easy. If his servant wasn't clutching a pile of dirty sheets so hard that his knuckles had turned white, Arthur might wonder if he was really taking this conversation seriously.

"But how could I maintain the power to enforce laws on those with magic if I allow them to multiply and grow in strength. Camelot could be destroyed."

"Sorcerers live under enforced laws in other lands. Besides, Camelot could have been destroyed _because_ of the ban on magic. Didn't Rothgard say that he had only invaded Camelot because there were no other sorcerers here to stop him?"

Arthur hadn't thought of that. If he hadn't had the help of magic, Rothgard would have taken over his kingdom with ease. In that instance, the laws against magic put the kingdom at risk rather than keeping it safe. Had the other times that magic had been used against the kingdom also been made worse rather than better by the laws against its use? Perhaps banning magic actually placed more limits on those who would defend Camelot than on those who would do it harm. If he were to reconcile with the sorcerers in his land, there was every chance that he would have enough magic on his side to enforce law on those of them who tried to use their magic for ill. And if the laws against magic actually put his people in more danger than it protected them from, how could he continue to support them? It would be irresponsible to continue to ban magic.

Why is it that whenever he sought advice from Merlin, things that seemed morally right but not practically possible suddenly started to seem like the most practical things in the world?

"It's all just talk anyways," he said, knowing that the last argument against doing anything about the laws could not be avoided, "the councillors would never support a change in the law, the people would panic, it would cause chaos."

"You can find a way to do it, Arthur," Merlin said firmly, looking Arthur in the eye, "I know you can."

Arthur looked at Merlin. This was one of those moments when he realized that there was more to his servant that meets the eye. Where did Merlin's faith in his as-yet unconfirmed ability or even desire to stop the persecution of magic users come from?

"How come you are so sure about all of this?" he asked.

Merlin's eyes lowered and he started busying himself by piling Arthur's dirty sheets into a laundry basket.

"I just know that you will do the right thing," he said before picking up the laundry basket and glancing meaningfully at the door.

"You can go," Arthur said, allowing Merlin to get on with his actual job.

* * *

Arthur held his hands together on top of the council table to stop himself from tapping nervously on the wood as the councillors assembled for the meeting. To the members of his council, this was just an ordinary meeting and it wouldn't do to have them realize that Arthur was about to embark on a sneaky bit of political maneuvering. If all went well, magic would be hardly discussed during the proceedings at all.

After Merlin left him to his own thoughts, Arthur had wondered long and hard about how to alter the laws condemning magic users, while still commanding the respect of his subjects. He had finally come up with a plan to at least lessen the punishments for those convicted of possessing magic. He hoped that it might turn out to be a first step in inching towards long term change.

"I would like to address the issue of the death penalty in Camelot," said Arthur, once the meeting had begun, "Three weeks ago, a pyre was ordered built without my approval and I do not wish for this to happen again. I propose that we adjust the laws governing capital punishment, including its forms and the crimes that merit such a sentence."

"What kind of changes do you propose we make?" Agravaine inquired.

"I propose first that the practice of burning at the stake be officially discontinued, and all future executions be carried out by either hanging or beheading."

Arthur sat back after delivering his proposal and allowed the councillors to discuss the matter. He did not really think that they would be hard to persuade on this point, and was not surprised to hear very little dissention as they each spelled out in long flowery words what a great and wise idea their king's proposal was. They were each, no doubt, still shaken by the fact that they had nearly stood by and watched Arthur be burned at the stake and were thus both sympathetic to Arthur's proposal and even more anxious than usual to suck up to their king.

After the law banning the pyre had been voted on and passed, Arthur steeled himself for the more difficult part of what he wanted to address.

"My second proposal is that we restrict punishment by execution to only those found guilty of either murder or treason. Other crimes previously punishable by death will be henceforth judged on a case by case basis in order to set new precedents for their sentences, for example: imprisonment, banishment, manual labour or fines."

The councillors were visibly much more stirred by this suggestion.

"Sire, what of those caught smuggling goods or evading taxes?" asked Agravaine.

"And people who use magic or harbour sorcerers?" added a councillor.

"And men and women caught in the act of adultery?" added another.

Arthur held up a hand to silence the protests.

"The worst offenders of those crimes are usually also guilty of murder or plotting against the kingdom, in which case the death sentence still stands. For those who have not gone so far down the road of evil, I believe they are not necessarily all beyond redemption. The punishments for those crimes can still be stern without resorting to execution."

Though many of the councillors had opened their mouths to argue before Arthur spoke, they now appeared to be hesitating and thinking.

"I believe the king is right," Gaius spoke up, "a lot of good can come from giving people the benefit of the doubt."

Good old Gaius. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief as the discussion turned from a sea of protests to a two sided debate on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed changes.

The discussion lasted a long time, even by the council's standards. In the end, a vote was taken and although it was close, the majority had ruled in favour of passing the new laws that greatly limited the crimes punished by execution.

In all their nitpicking about whether smuggling should fall under the category of treason and long anecdotes about the traditions of punishments for various crimes, the issue of magic had been barely touched on. Arthur had quietly changed the subject as quickly as he could whenever they had steered too close to those waters. His plan had worked and he would bet that it did not even cross any of his councillor's minds that the new law they had passed absolved all sorcerers who had not killed anyone or plotted against Camelot and allowed Arthur the freedom to determine on his own what an appropriate punishment for simply using magic would be.

It would all have to come to a head at some point though. Inevitably a sorcerer would be caught and taken to Arthur for judgement. But he would deal with that day when it came. Unless they were a legitimate enemy of the throne he would point out that they did not qualify for the death penalty, but what kind of punishment, if any, he would actually give them would depend on what they had been caught doing and what kind of danger they posed – not something that he could plan in advance.

But that was a matter for another day. For now, Arthur was just satisfied with his little victory and the knowledge that the laws of his kingdom were more merciful today than they were yesterday.

Just as the council was adjourning and Arthur was considering taking a well-deserved nap, a woman dressed in rags burst into the room, knocking aside an old councillor who was on his way out. She ran straight to Arthur and, gabbing hold of the front of his shirt, she gasped out the word, "Arthur," before falling into a dead faint.

Arthur caught her as she fell and lowered her gently to the ground before taking a step back and staring at the sight in disbelief. He knew those soft features and blond curls from years of staring longingly at portraits painted before his birth and from that fateful day when he had accepted Morgause's offer to grant him a single wish.

Agravaine stepped forward and said in disbelief, "Ygraine?"

It was his mother.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Arthur paced outside of the guest chambers containing the woman who was the image of his dead mother, waiting for answers. After she had collapsed in the council chambers, she had been taken here to be seen to by Gaius, who claimed that she was merely exhausted and stressed.

When Gaius had informed him that she had woken, Arthur, not sure that he could face her, had acquiesced to Agravaine's request to go in and speak to her first. But he was now regretting the decision, as waiting and not knowing were almost too much to bear.

His heart longed for nothing more than for it to truly be his mother but he knew that such a thing was so unlikely that he tried as hard as he could to block off any false hope. A more likely explanation was that this was a trick of sorcery, or even a long-lost sister of his mother, or a strange coincidence of a nearly identical stranger. The possible explanations swirled in Arthur's mind as he waited for Agravaine's verdict.

When the door finally clicked, Arthur's heart nearly stopped as his uncle emerged from the room.

"Is she…" he started.

"It's her," said Agravaine confidently.

Arthur could hardly believe his ears.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes," Agravaine said, sounding completely sure of himself, "she remembers everything of our childhoods. Things that only the real Ygraine could know. She has been alive all this time. She can explain it all. She wants to see you."

Arthur felt dizzy. His mother had been alive all this time and he was going to meet her, speak to her.

Agravaine gave him an encouraging nod and Arthur slowly entered the room and shut the door behind him.

Ygraine was sitting up in the bed. Although her features were as Arthur remembered from portraits of her and Morgause's illusion, there were lines on her face and other signs of aging, as though she had indeed lived through the last two and a half decades.

"Mother?" Arthur asked hesitantly, approaching her.

"Arthur!" Ygraine cried, noticing his presence for the first time.

There were tears in her eyes as she stood from the bed, quickly closed the distance between herself and Arthur and embraced him.

"My son," she said, crying into his shoulder, "I thought I would never see you again. The last time I held you, you were a tiny baby and you've grown into a man now. And I missed it all. I wasn't there for you."

Arthur found there were tears pouring from his own eyes as his mother rambled through sobs. He moved to hold her at arm's length so he could see her properly.

"I thought you were dead, mother," he said.

"Everyone believed that," she said, "but it doesn't matter now. What matters is that I am finally with you again. I love you my son, I have loved you through all these year. Every day I wished that I would one day find you again. It is all that has kept me going."

Arthur embraced his mother once again and felt her trembling in him arms. He led her over to the bed and the two of them sat down, basking in simply being together.

When Arthur felt the shaking in her hand under his stop and heard her breathing, which had been punctures with sobs, return to normal, he ventured to ask, "What happened to you, mother?"

"I was held captive for all these years," she said in a small voice, "by a man named Emrys."

Arthur felt like he had been slapped in the face the second he heard the name.

"He is a devious trickster," she continued, "who cares about nothing but power and manipulates people for his own gain. Through magic and deceit he has been ruling Camelot from behind the scenes for decades without anyone being any the wiser."

Arthur felt his heart sinking. Had he really fallen for the lies of a charlatan? Trusted the man who had imprisoned his mother?

"The day I gave birth to you, he ripped you from my arms and dragged me away to a cold, dark dungeon. He bragged to me that he had tricked Uther and the whole kingdom into believing that I had been killed by a witch and sparked a war between those with magic and without. He secretly used his own magic to help Uther destroy all the other sorcerers in the kingdom so that no one with the power to detect him remained. Then he cast enchantment upon enchantment on Uther, making him act according to Emrys' whims. He would visit me in my cell and tell me of the things that he had made Uther do, and how he was grooming you to be his perfect puppet king."

Ygraine wiped a tear from her eye and Arthur put his arm comfortingly around her shoulder, all the while cursing himself for being so easily deceived.

"One day he came and told me that Uther had been gravely injured. Although he had protected Uther for years, he now believed that you were old enough to be his public face and would be much easier to manipulate than your father. He knew that you were planning to use magic to heal your father, so he placed a charm around Uther's neck that would reverse the effects of any healing magic and magnify it tenfold. He killed your father, Arthur, and laughed about it."

Arthur had to force himself to relax his muscles to keep himself from gripping his mother painfully, but the anger coursing through him was difficult to control.

"A few weeks ago, Emrys was away for a few days. I managed to pick the lock on my cell and escape. All I could think of was finding you my son. I'm so glad I did. I was so scared."

Arthur embraced his mother again and held her tight.

"You don't need to be afraid anymore," he said, "I will protect you and make Emrys pay for everything he has done."

"No, my son," Ygraine pulled back to look him in the eyes, "he is too powerful. I'm sure he already knows that I am here. He told me that if I ever tried to escape he would kill me. I'm afraid I will never be safe again."

"You will," Arthur assured her, "I am going to find this Emrys and make sure he can never hurt you again."

He stood up.

"Rest now. I'll make sure there are guards outside your door. Don't worry and leave everything to me."

After Arthur left the room he sent Merlin, who he had found waiting outside the room for him, to fetch a dozen guards. He placed them strategically in the surrounding rooms and hallways so that Emrys could not take out one without giving away his position to the rest, who could surround him and attack from behind. Arthur was taking no chances with his mother's life, as he left to call an emergency meeting of his councillors and knights.

He summarized the situation and informed the council that Emrys was someone who lived in Camelot. He gave the order for a full search of every room in the castle and every home in the town for signs of magic. It was the first time since his father's rule that such a search had been carried out, as Arthur believed that such violation of his people's privacy was unwarranted, but he was going to have to use drastic measures if he was going to be able to stop Emrys. The man had murdered his father, imprisoned his mother and manipulated his kingdom and Arthur would not suffer him to live another day if he could help it.

The people he had summoned to the council had been shocked and horrified by the knowledge of what Emrys had been doing for years, but none more so than Merlin, who fell into step behind Arthur as he left the council chambers to return to his mother and assure her that a search for Emrys was underway.

"Are you sure about this, Arthur?" Merlin asked.

"She's my mother," he said coolly. Merlin had better not be implying that his mother had lied to him.

"Something doesn't feel right."

Arthur ignored Merlin and his annoying feelings.

"Are you sure that's really your mother."

"Yes," said Arthur angrily.

"But you only have Agravaine's word for it."

"And is that not enough for you?"

"Don't you think it is suspicious that…" began Merlin.

Arthur whirled around to face him.

"Be careful how to finish that sentence, Merlin. Agravaine is my uncle and I will not hear a word against him."

Merlin seemed to swallow his words and Arthur turned back to his march through the hallways. When he reached his goal, he turned to Merlin and said more coldly than he had intended to, "Stay out here."

Arthur opened the door quietly in case his mother was sleeping, but when he entered the room the sight he saw was like a punch to the gut. Ygraine lay on the bed in a pool of her own blood, which was dripping down the covers onto the floor. The hilt of a dagger was sticking out of her stomach.

Merlin was already rushing forwards, but the look on his face as he neared her crushed any hope that Arthur had left. Merlin leaned over her, feeling her pulse and then slowly shook his head at Arthur.

His mother was dead. So soon after finding out that she was still alive, she had been taken from him. He had promised to protect her and had failed. In her last moments she must had known nothing but despair, knowing she could not escape from Emrys.

Emrys.

A burning hatred filled Arthur like nothing he had ever known before. That man – that sorcerer – had taken everything from him. Emrys had murdered both his parents in cold blood. He had used Arthur as a puppet from the day he had been born. Arthur swore that if it was the last thing he did he would make Emrys pay.

He turned to the guards that had been outside the door and were now standing in the doorway, looking shocked.

"Where is Emrys? Why didn't you stop him?" he shouted.

"My Lord, nobody has entered this room since you left," one guard replied.

"You were supposed to be protecting her!" he yelled, before attempting to lower his voice to a tone of authority rather than anger and continuing, "Sound the warning bell. Search the entire palace. I want him found!"

The guards ran to do his bidding and Arthur turned back to his mother, found that he couldn't bear looking at the sight and turned away again.

"Arthur…" Merlin began quietly, but Arthur glared at him and he fell quiet.

Arthur turned away and marched out of the room. He heard Merlin following a few steps behind him in solemn silence. Even through his current blinding anger, Arthur felt a tug of affection for Merlin and his unfaltering loyalty. Not many people would be brave enough to stick around Arthur with the current mood he was in. Even though his entire rule had been a fabrication of Emrys, at least he knew Merlin's loyalty and friendship was genuine.

In a short time, Arthur managed to track down Leon, who was in charge of the search for Emrys he had ordered at the council and who would have also been informed by now of the reason the alarm bells were ringing.

"Well?" he asked.

"We have begun the search of the castle. So far, nothing has been found. Guards are patrolling the hallways and are on the lookout for anyone showing any signs of suspicious behaviour. Nobody was seen near the scene at the time of the incident but we are still questioning the servants to see if anyone knows anything."

Arthur was struck with a sense of futility. If Emrys was able to avoid detection for decades and slip past a dozen guards into a locked room, surely finding him by searching the castle would be impossible. Arthur was desperate for action. He could not stand the thought that his parent's murderer was at large and that there was nothing he could do about it. He needed to face him, no matter what the cost.

Then an idea occurred to him and although he was clutching at straws, he was willing to try anything at the moment. He dismissed Leon back to the search and started heading in a new direction.

Merlin, perhaps sensing his sudden state of determination, jogged a few steps to catch up to him and asked, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going back to the forest of Magnaroth."

"Why?"

"I met Emrys there before, maybe I will again."

"Arthur, are you insane?"

"I have to face him."

"That's not what I meant. What makes you think he will even be there?"

Arthur didn't answer. He knew that Merlin had a point, but it was all he had to go on. They had reached the door to his chambers and Arthur stopped walking and opened the door but didn't go through, before turning to Merlin and saying, "You will stay here."

"No, I'm coming with you."

"It is too dangerous, Merlin."

"Which is why I need to come with you!"

Arthur had expected Merlin's protests and instead of arguing further, he grabbed Merlin by the arm and shoved him into his chambers. As Merlin was still stumbling forward, Arthur pulled the door shut and locked it with his keys from the outside.

"Arthur," Merlin shouted from the other side of the door.

"I said you will stay here Merlin!" said Arthur, and he walked away, ignoring the sounds of Merlin shouting his name and pounding on the door.

He hated to resort to such measures, but the quest he was embarking on was for him alone. It was likely there would be no coming back and Merlin was an innocent party in all of this. Arthur would not allow him to be killed needlessly or caught up in the machinations of Emrys. Knowing that Merlin and the other people he loved were safely out of the way back in Camelot would allow him to do what needed to be done.

Arthur made no attempt to be discrete as he ordered a horse saddled and rode out of the citadel. Many would no doubt wonder why he was leaving on his own at a time like this, but if Emrys was still in the castle, he wanted to make sure the man knew that he was leaving and followed him.

Arthur had to admit he didn't have much of a plan, other than to return to where he had first met Emrys and hope that the cursed man would appear there again. If he didn't show himself, perhaps Arthur would go and throw himself in danger of being eaten by some oversized insect in the hopes of drawing him out.

However, Arthur did not even get near the forest of Magnaroth. He had barely entered the woods outside the castle when a cloaked figure stepped out from behind a tree onto the path ahead of him. The sight of Emrys, standing there calmly in front of Arthur the very night he had murdered his mother made his blood boil.

"You wanted to speak to me," he said as though he still believed Arthur to be blind to his treachery.

Arthur dismounted from his horse and drew his sword, approaching his parent's killer.

"Arthur, I swear it wasn't me!" Emrys at least had the decency to sound slightly panicked now, "I didn't kill your mother!"

Arthur had spent a lifetime being taken in by this man's lies and he wasn't going to listen to them for an instant longer. With a lunge forward, he swung his sword, aiming to cut right through the sorcerer's dark heart.

Emrys, moving with surprising speed, managed to dodge out of the way in time, forcing Arthur to catch himself from stumbling forward from his momentum and spin around to face Emrys again.

Emrys, who was now backing away from Arthur, spoke again, "Nothing your mother said to you was true! She was a shade! A spirit conjured from the dead and controlled by a sorcerer!"

Arthur blocked out the lies and swung at Emrys again. This time Emrys lifted his hand and used magic to cause Arthur to fly several feet backwards and land on his back.

Arthur climbed to his feet, knowing Emrys' power meant that he would not be able to get within range of the man, he shouted in frustration, "You killed my mother! And my father! You heartless… you evil…"

Arthur's speech was losing coherence. His inability to avenge his parent's deaths, even with their murderer right in front of him was overwhelming his mind.

"I didn't do it, Arthur!"

"Enough of your lies!" he shouted, "As if I could trust a man who hides behind a cloak! If you had a single shred of decency in you, you would at least let me look into the eyes of my parent's killer!"

"I told you I didn't…" Emrys started.

But Arthur cut him off a roar of frustration. He would hear no more lies and false rationalizations from this deceiver. He needed satisfaction from his parent's killer and was furious enough right now to do anything to get it. In desperation he drew a dagger from his belt and held it to his own throat.

"You need me to be your puppet, don't you! I swear to you that if you don't show me who you are right now I will slit my own throat!"

Arthur didn't even know whether he was bluffing or not. At the moment he felt reckless enough to actually do it. To hell with it, he though, if his death would even be an inconvenience to Emrys it felt like it would be worth it at this point. Arthur gripped the blade firmly and set his stance to make sure he wouldn't flinch; he wanted this done in one clean cut.

"Wait!"

Arthur stilled his hand, and held his breath as he watched the man in front of him reach up and lower the hood of his cloak to reveal his face.

No.

It couldn't be.

Merlin.

But it must be a trick. Emrys had just used magic to make himself look like Merlin. It couldn't be his most faithful friend who had killed his parents and manipulated him, terrorizing his kingdom from the shadows. It couldn't be.

"Arthur," the man said in Merlin's voice, "please, lower the knife."

Arthur had forgotten that he was still holding a dagger to his own throat and slowly lowered his hand, still too stunned by the sight in front of him to really register what he was doing.

Emrys was Merlin. Even as his mind rejected the idea, it also made a sort of sense. Who else would be in a better position to manipulate Arthur and rule his kingdom from the shadows? It had been Merlin who had told him the story of Will that had confirmed Emrys' words. It had been Merlin who had tried to convince him not to believe Ygraine. It was all falling together. The veil had been torn and Arthur was finally seeing Merlin for who he really was – a power-hungry murderer who had played him for a fool, manipulating his life and controlling his kingdom while pretending to be his friend.

Arthur had never experienced such a sense of utter betrayal. His best friend had been nothing but a fabrication. His most loyal servant had killed both of his parents. The man who had always encouraged him and believed in him had been plotting behind his back the whole time.

"Arthur," Merlin started in a pleading tone, "it wasn't me who killed your mother. Nothing she said to you was true. I swear I have only ever been loyal to you."

Merlin's words wrested Arthur from the stupor he had fallen into and the anger that had faded into shock resurfaced.

"You!" he shouted, "It was you all this time! I trusted you! And you… you…"

Arthur abandoned his attempt to express himself by words and lunged at Merlin, aiming to drive his sword into the hated man, only to be thrown back again by magic.

"Please listen to me, Arthur," Merlin said as Arthur got to his feet again, "I have only ever tried to protect you. I never…"

"You are nothing but a liar and a murderer!" Arthur cut him off, "You are a coward who hides behind a mask and cares for no one but yourself! My father was right about sorcerers! You have no soul! You are pure evil and if you had any decency you would throw yourself over a cliff!"

"Arthur," Merlin said in a small voice. He was blinking back tears.

Arthur couldn't believe that even now Merlin was still trying to keep up his charade, as if he thought Arthur would ever fall for his tricks again. Arthur's desire to end Merlin's life was only strengthened by his disgusting display of weakness.

But Arthur knew that he had no chance of getting within range of the sorcerer. He didn't have the power to kill Merlin.

"Leave," he shouted. It was all he could do, as he couldn't stand to look at Merlin for a second longer. "If I ever see your face again I will kill you!"

Merlin was openly crying now, but instead of leaving or doing anything else, he simply sunk to his knees on the spot.

Arthur, who could face Merlin no longer, mounted his horse and rode away from the weeping man.

Merlin made no move to follow him.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When Arthur returned to the castle, he found guards and knights still running around, searching for Emrys. It seemed unreal, as though it has been a lifetime ago that Arthur had ordered the search.

Within moments of his entry through the gates, Elyan, who was leading a group of guards in searching the houses of the lower town, spotted him and ran over to report the current situation to him.

Arthur cut off his report that they had still not found anything with a new order, "Call off the search. Inform the others."

"Sire?" Elyan inquired, probing for an explanation of the sudden change in orders.

Arthur was not in the mood.

"Do as I say. And inform all guards and knights that Merlin is to be killed on sight."

"Merlin?" Elyan said, shocked.

"You have your orders," Arthur said with warning in his voice.

"For what crime is Merlin condemned?"

"For the murder of Queen Ygraine," Arthur replied, and walked off leaving Elyan standing stunned in the streets.

Arthur was stopped a few more times by knights as he walked through the castle, but merely ordered them all to report to Elyan for their new orders. When he arrived at his chamber door, he was painfully reminded that he had locked it before he left in a misguided attempt to protect someone he had considered a friend. The door was wide open now, as Merlin had clearly waited until he had left and then simply let himself out with magic, laughing at how he had Arthur so neatly under his thumb that the king would go to such unnecessary lengths to keep him safe.

Arthur entered his chambers and locked the door from the inside. He didn't think he could face anyone right now. He couldn't imagine having to explain to anyone the truth of what had happened and the true nature of Merlin. Because when they found out who Merlin really was, they would find out who Arthur really was – a failure.

It was Arthur's job to rule the people and protect the kingdom. He had done neither of those things. His entire life was a sham; his entire rule was a front for Merlin. He had been nothing but a puppet for a sorcerer all these years and it was entirely his fault. If he was really the king his people deserved he would have realized what was going on and rooted out the evil that was at the heart of the kingdom, but he had not. He had fallen for every one of Merlin's lies, and let him get closer to him and have more of an influence on him than any man was supposed to have on a king.

How foolish he had been.

A knock came at the door. Arthur ignored it.

The knock came again, this time accompanied by Gwaine's voice, "Sire, what is going on? Why have you ordered for Merlin to be killed?"

Arthur still did not answer. He knew Gwaine would eventually leave if he didn't reply.

Heavy banging sounded on the door and this time Gwaine yelled, "Arthur, I know you are in there!"

A moment passed in silence before Arthur heard a final bang, which sounded as though Gwaine had punched his door, and the man shout, "Fine!" before heavy footsteps signaled that he had given up and left.

Arthur knew he was going to have to face everyone eventually, but he didn't know what he could possibly say to them. He would step down as king - that was unquestionable. He had completely failed his people and, as it turned out, never knew how to rule a kingdom at all. He doubted anyone would even want him as king when they knew the truth. He supposed the council would decide who would be the next king. Agravaine was probably the most suited for the job, but Arthur didn't even trust in his own abilities enough to make that decision himself. The kingdom would be better off if he just disappeared into obscurity.

Another knock sounded at the door, gentler this time.

"Arthur, it's Guinevere."

Arthur did not answer.

"Please speak to me, Arthur."

Although it pained him to push her away, Arthur remained silent. He did not want to talk to anyone now, and Guinevere had been such good friends with Merlin. When she learned the truth about him it would break her heart and Arthur couldn't bear to see that while his own still felt like it was in pieces.

He didn't hear Guinevere's voice again and, although he hadn't heard her go, due to her light footfalls, he assumed that she had decided to respect his desire for solitude and left.

Merlin's deception was going to devastate so many people - Gwaine and Guinevere for starters. And Gaius had been like a father to Merlin. The truth would be such a blow to him.

Merlin must have truly been devoid of all goodness to so easily play with the emotions and lives of so many people.

When Arthur looked back on all the times he had worried about Merlin, or gone out of his way to cheer him up, he felt like such a fool.

Merlin had weaseled himself so close to Arthur that he had been willing to go to extraordinary lengths for the little snake.

He had risked his life and his father's wrath to retrieve a poison antidote for Merlin and – wait.

Merlin had drunk poison for Arthur.

The memory of Merlin's near death experience for Arthur's sake suddenly surged to the surface of Arthur's mind. But that didn't make sense - why would he do that?

But then, Merlin had somehow sent a magical light to Arthur in the caves at that time. If he had really been dying of poison, that surely wouldn't have been possible. Had even that been an act? Maybe Merlin had already cured himself with magic and had never been in any real danger at all.

But that wasn't the only time Merlin had done something like that. He had thrown himself into the path of a Doracha in order to save Arthur. And again, why would a sorcerer manipulating him sacrifice himself for Arthur? It must have been a trick. He must have known some magic that would protect him from the Dorocha's touch – after all, how else did he survive?

Maybe Merlin had deliberately wanted Arthur to see him willing to sacrifice himself for Arthur's sake in order to gain Arthur's trust. And it must have worked. After all Arthur hadn't even known Merlin for a year when he had been willing to drink poison in Merlin's place in the labyrinth of Gedref and had dropped everything and lied to his father to go to Ealdor to fight to defend Merlin's village.

Wait.

Ealdor.

Hunith.

Arthur had met Merlin's mother, and seen the place he grew up. Merlin was not nearly old enough to have been manipulating the kingdom since before Arthur's birth. It made no sense. Even if he used some sort of spell to appear younger than he really was, that didn't explain all of the details that Arthur knew of Merlin's life before coming to Camelot. Were Hunith and all of Ealdor part of the deception? Surely no ruse could be so elaborate.

Ygraine had told him that Emrys had held her captive for two and a half decades. But Emrys was Merlin, who had not yet been born at that time. The facts didn't fit, and yet he had his mother's death as absolute proof that she had been telling the truth about Emrys – about Merlin. Merlin wouldn't have killed her if she hadn't – wait. Arthur froze with the new thought that hit him. Merlin had been at Arthur's side from the moment he had left Ygraine until the time that he had found her body. Merlin couldn't have killed her!

Or could he?

Arthur did not know the limits of magic – perhaps there was a way. But the whole situation made less and less sense the more he thought about it.

Arthur stood up. He had to see his mother's body; he had to assure himself that it really was her and ask Gaius about whether magic could have been involved in her death. He wasn't sure whether it would help, but he desperately needed to understand and sitting here wasn't going to get him anywhere.

Arthur was barely out of his chambers when he ran into Agravaine, clearly on his way to see him.

"Sire, why have you called off the search? Do you know the whereabouts of Emrys?" Agravaine asked.

"Emrys is dead," Arthur replied.

He didn't know what made him say it. He just knew that he wanted the conversation to end right now. He was not ready to discuss these things with his uncle.

"He's dead?" asked Agravaine, sounding distinctly excited by the news.

"Yes," replied Arthur shortly, "now if you will excuse me, uncle."

Arthur pushed past Agravaine and hurried on, hoping he wouldn't run into anyone else in the corridors.

He could see the light of dawn starting to penetrate the castle windows and realized that he must have been up all night. It was strange to think that he was supposed to preside over a trial in a few hours. It was as if he had expected his life to just stop the moment his whole world had been turned upside down.

When Arthur arrived at the physician's chambers, he could see that had been right in his thinking that Ygraine's body would have been taken here for examination, as it was lying on Gaius' work table. Gaius glanced up when Arthur entered, giving him a strange look that was much less friendly than usual. Arthur suddenly realized that he had almost certainly been informed that Arthur had ordered his ward to be killed on sight. Desperately hoping that Gaius would not demand an explanation for that, Arthur made his way over to look at the resting form of his mother. Fortunately Gaius said nothing. Most likely his professionalism forbade him from disturbing a grieving son visiting the body of his mother.

The woman who lay there still looked the image of Arthur's mother and he had to blink back tears at the sight of her in death. He was so sure that this truly was his mother, although he couldn't understand quite why. It was almost like he just instinctively knew her.

Arthur became aware that Gaius had quietly approached the table beside him.

"Sire," he said carefully, "I have determined the cause of death."

Arthur was surprised at that statement. He had assumed that being found with a knife sticking out of her stomach made the determination of the cause of death a redundant question. Perhaps Gaius had realized that the knife was a decoy and that the murder had actually been committed using magic. Arthur steeled himself for the confirmation of his theory.

"I believe it was a self-inflicted stab wound," he finished.

Self-inflicted?

Arthur imagined there must have been disbelief spelled out across his face because Gaius quickly endeavored to explain.

"There are clear signs. The force with which the knife was driven downwards, the pattern of blood on the hilt and on the hands of the victim…"

"But why?" Arthur interrupted Gaius. He didn't care how the man had determined it. That wasn't the issue here.

"I believe, Sire, that the lady Ygraine was not all that she seemed," Gaius replied carefully, "I have examined her very closely and there was one very strange thing about her death."

"Which was?" prodded Arthur.

"Normally, when a person dies, the body begins to stiffen several hours after death. This stiffness lasts up to three days before the body relaxes and becomes limp again."

Arthur was well acquainted with this phenomenon, having seen his fair share of dead bodies, and waited for Gaius to get to the point.

"The lady Ygraine's death occurred long enough ago that the stiffness should have at least started to set in by now, and yet it hasn't."

To prove his point, he gently lifted one of Ygraine's hands and then placed it back at her side.

"But what does this mean?" asked Arthur.

"That this was not the first time that she has died."

Arthur just stared at Gaius after this incomprehensible pronouncement.

"I believe that she is a shade, Sire," Gaius continued, pulling a book from one of his piles and opening it to a page full of a lot of text and a picture of a skeleton transposed over a person, "A shade is the spirit of a dead person, conjured from their rest by a powerful sorcerer and forced to do their bidding. This truly is your mother, but she has been dead for a long time now and nothing she has done since her arrival here was of her own free will."

Arthur started at Gaius. A shade. This wasn't the first time this night that he had heard that word. Merlin had said something about Ygraine being a shade right before his identity had been revealed. And here it was, written in plain text at the top of the page in Gaius' book – "Shade: A spirit summoned by a necromancer".

She truly had been his mother and yet in essence had not been. None of it had been real.

Arthur cursed whoever had used his mother like this.

But if everything Ygraine had said was a lie, then Merlin must have been telling the truth all along. And that meant that Merlin really was the Emrys Arthur had thought he knew and trusted – a man who believed in Arthur as a king and used his magic only for the good of the kingdom.

It all fit with the Merlin he had known, who had never been anything but unfailingly loyal to Arthur and to Camelot. And being the servant of the king must have been the perfect position for him to ensure Arthur's safety. Merlin had always been there with Arthur, through everything that he had faced. All of Merlin's power and he had chosen to use it only to stay by Arthur's side as a servant and protect him. Arthur would not have believed any man so powerful could be so selfless and humble, except that it was Merlin.

But with the elation of realizing that Merlin had never betrayed him came a sudden crushing guilt because this all meant that Arthur had left the truest friend he ever had weeping in the forest with a promise that he would kill him on sight.

"Gaius, I've made a terrible mistake."

How could he have ever believed that Merlin had been working against him? Merlin always threw himself into danger for Arthur without a second thought. Merlin had revealed his secret only when Arthur had been foolishly about to take his own life. He would be dead who knew how many times over if it wasn't for Merlin and if it was all part of some plot for Merlin to use Arthur as a puppet king it was a pretty shoddy one. Why would any evil tyrant want to rule a kingdom while washing floors and having things thrown at him? He had been so angry he hadn't seen any of this before.

He could only hope that Merlin would forgive him for what he had done.

How far could Merlin have gotten? Where would he go? Arthur had to go and find him before it was too late. Oh - and he had to cancel that order to kill Merlin on sight. Everyone must think he had gone mad to issue such and order. Maybe he had.

He would have to ride out alone. If he sent out patrols to search for Merlin, Merlin would probably think Arthur had sent them out to hunt and kill him. Would he be angry enough to attack them? Arthur would have been certain that Merlin would not seriously injure his knights, even if they were attacking him, but he was no longer sure how well he knew Merlin. How much of the Merlin he knew was real and how much of it was a mask for Emrys? He wanted to believe that his friendship had been true but he couldn't deny that Merlin was not just the kind soul he had known, but a powerful ally that he had spurned. If he had turned Merlin into an enemy, then his kingdom might just be doomed.

"Sire," Gaius began tentatively, and Arthur suspected he was about to breach the topic of Merlin's death sentence, but whatever he was about to say was cut off as he groaned in pain and reached a hand to his head.

Even as Gaius reacted, Arthur felt a sharp pain in his head and gasped, clutching his forehead. It was like he had a sudden headache but it was strange that he and Gaius had seemed to experience the same pain simultaneously.

"Gaius, what is going on?"

"Do you feel that too, Sire?"

"If you mean a piercing pain in my head, then yes. But why would we both feel the same pain at the same time?"

"I don't know, Sire. Hold still for a moment."

Gaius tilted Arthur's head up and to each side and stared deeply into each of his eyes.

"Hmm," he said.

"What is it?"

"I don't know," Gaius replied. He pulled several booked down from his shelves and started flipping through them, "I can see no cause for this."

Arthur stood there for a moment, watching Gaius read. He wondered if he should wait around for Gaius' verdict or if this was liable to take some time. He needed to go find Merlin, painful headache or not, and Gaius seemed to be so entrenched in his book that he appeared to have forgotten about Arthur's presence.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Percival entered.

"Sire," he said when he saw Arthur, "there are reports of people experiencing sudden headaches."

So it wasn't just the two of them?

"How many people?"

"As far as we know, everyone in Camelot, Sire."

Arthur looked to Gaius, but he looked just as lost as Arthur felt.

"Gaius, could this be some kind of plague? An enchantment?" he asked.

"I couldn't say sire."

Before Arthur could decide what to do, Gwaine ran into the room.

"Sire," he said, "we found something strange in the throne room. You had better come and see."

Arthur followed Gwaine at a quick pace, with Percival and Gaius following behind him.

"Percival," he said as they walked, "go and inform the others to cancel my order to kill Merlin. If anyone sees Merlin, they are to tell him that I want to speak with him."

Percival nodded in acknowledgement of his orders and turned to go back the way they had come.

Arthur thought he heard Gwaine sigh in relief.

"What sort of thing did you find?" Arthur asked him.

"We think it must be magic," Gwaine replied.

Arthur quickened his pace.

When they arrived in the throne room, Arthur saw what he had been referring to.

There was an amulet hung on the top of Arthur's throne. It had a blood red jewel, encased in gold and dangling on a golden chain. The whole thing was glowing with a golden light that pulsed, and it was emitting a loud buzzing sound that made Arthur's head hurt even more than it had previously.

Several guards stood around it, watching it fearfully.

"Do you think this is what is causing the headaches?" Arthur asked Gaius.

"Undoubtedly," said Gaius, staring at it in horror.

Recognized the look on Gaius' face, Arthur asked, "Do you know what this is?"

"This is the Amulet of Dhakira," he said with a tone that Arthur did not find very encouraging.

"It is currently probing the memory centers of all of our minds. That is what is causing the headaches. The Amulet was said to have the power to change all of a person's memories regarding a specific object," he said, glancing at where it was hung.

"The throne?" guessed Arthur.

"Indeed. Soon it will activate and we will all lose our short-term memories and also have some very different long-term ones."

"Then we need to destroy it before it activates!" Arthur said, looking at his knights.

Gwaine shook his head.

"I tried to touch it earlier - it burned my hand," he said, raising his hand, which had an angry red burn on it.

"It can only be destroyed by powerful magic," said Gaius with a look of exasperation at Gwaine.

Magic, thought Arthur with a sinking feeling. If he hadn't driven Merlin out…

"There's something else, Sire," Gaius said, "The amulet is currently linked to the soul of the sorcerer who cast the spell. If the amulet is destroyed, the sorcerer will die."

That surprised Arthur. It seemed like whoever had cast this spell had made themself very vulnerable to do so. If it had been any other time and Merlin had been here they would have been…

And then it hit Arthur. It couldn't have been a coincidence that the amulet had been used the very moment when Merlin wasn't around to stop it. The same sorcerer who had put it here must have been the one who sent Ygraine as a shade to turn Arthur against Emrys. That had been their plan all along – to get rid of Emrys so that there would be no one left able to destroy them when they were vulnerable.

He had well and truly fallen for this sorcerer's scheme. He had turned his greatest ally away just when he needed him more than ever and his kingdom was about to suffer the consequences.

He needed to find Merlin right now.

"We need to find… Emrys," he said, cutting himself off when he had been about to say Merlin's name. Best not to get into that now.

"There isn't time," said Gaius, "the amulet could activate at any moment. And once it is activated we won't even remember that it exists."

Arthur's heart sunk. Was there nothing he could do? What were the chances that Merlin would come back here on his own and stride into the throne room in time to save them all? If it had been Arthur, he would have washed his hands of Camelot's king and left him to his fate.

"It's started," said Gaius suddenly, and Arthur saw that the glow around the amulet had stopped pulsing and was getting steadily brighter.

"There must be something we can do, Gaius!" he shouted in frustration.

"There is nothing, my Lord."

The glow from the amulet was so bright that it was blinding Arthur and making his head hurt so much that he couldn't think. He screwed his eyes shut but he couldn't block out the light that consumed his mind to the point that he could remember nothing else, not even his own name.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **Arthur's way of dealing with betrayal in the show was generally anger followed by days of depression, moping and low self-esteem. So I wrote his reaction based on his reactions to Morgana's and Agravaine's betrayals minus the part where Merlin cheers him up and insists that he is a worthy king.**

 **Gwaine found the amulet because he was running about the whole castle trying to find Merlin before anyone else.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

A man knelt before the throne, awaiting the judgement of his sovereign. He was a cobbler from the lower town who had lied about his income to avoid paying higher taxes. It was his first offense and he had argued that he had only done it to buy medicines for his sick mother. But all his pleas for mercy had fallen on deaf ears.

"I find him guilty of fraud," Queen Morgana declared, "Take him to the dungeons. He will be executed at dawn tomorrow."

His protests that if he died there would be no one to care for his mother went unheeded as the trial ended and he was dragged away. As the council chambers cleared, Arthur moved to join Morgana as she stood up from her throne.

"Is it really necessary to execute him?" he asked.

"The people must learn that the law is not to be trifled with and our dues are to be paid in full."

"Wouldn't an additional fine be a more suitable punishment?"

"No, an example must be made. I take no pleasure in this, but a show of force is necessary to keep the peasants in line."

Arthur thanked his lucky stars yet again that his father had ruled that age, rather than gender, would decide which of his children would inherit his throne. He would never have had the strength to make the tough decisions that Morgana had to on a daily basis. Morgana had always been as strong-willed as his father and there really could have been no one better to take his place.

"Of course. The law must be upheld," he acknowledged.

Morgana turned to face Arthur fully and placed a hand on his arm.

"Arthur, I've been wanting to speak to you about something."

"About what?"

"Gwen," she said shortly.

"What about Guinevere?"

Morgana gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I want you to stop seeing her."

Arthur choked, "What?"

"She is a servant, Arthur. I have a kingdom to rule and your hand in marriage is a powerful political tool that I won't let you fritter away. I have already sent an emissary to King Ecsed, proposing a match between you and his daughter, Princess Eliza."

Arthur's breath hitched. He had heard of the Princess Eliza and she had a fearsome reputation. Reports from Ecsed's kingdom suggested that he doted on her and turned a blind eye to the unexplained deaths of maidservants and peasant's daughters that surrounded her. It was said that she bathed in the blood of young maids because she believed it to be good for her skin. Arthur was almost certain that part wasn't true, but he didn't want to find out firsthand.

"I expect you to break off all ties with Gwen by the time his reply gets here. I am almost certain he will accept and it would not do to have you dallying about with some maid when your fiancé arrives," she continued, "I wouldn't want to be forced to send Gwen into exile to keep you apart."

With those words Morgana swept out of the room, not giving Arthur a chance to reply.

How was he going to get out of this?

When he had broken off his engagement to Princess Elena there had been no real repercussions, as Elena had been grateful for the reprieve and Godwin had been such a strong ally of Camelot that he hadn't let it affect the relations between their kingdoms. Arthur had a feeling that rejecting Princess Eliza and putting strain on the alliance with the ruthless King Ecsed would not go over so smoothly.

Arthur returned to his chambers, hoping to vent some of his frustration at his servant. However, when he arrived Merlin was nowhere to be seen. He stomped over to Gaius' chambers to tell him to get back to work but found those empty too. He was on his way to check the stables when he ran into Gaius.

"Where's Merlin?" he asked.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since…" Gaius started before suddenly looking confused and then finishing with, "I haven't seen him all day."

"Well if you do, tell him to get back to work!" Arthur called as he continued walking.

Arthur didn't find Merlin in the stables or the kitchens, and he refused to be seen checking the tavern for a wayward servant.

He couldn't remember where he had last seen Merlin. Arthur figured he must be getting drowsy because he couldn't clearly remember anything he had done today before Morgana had returned from her morning ride.

Giving up on his search, Arthur headed to his chambers, stopping a random servant on the way and asking for his lunch to be brought up.

However, when his food arrived he found he was barely able to touch it. He had too much on his mind.

Morgana wanted what was best for the kingdom - he knew that. But it almost seemed to him that Morgana had gone out of her way to find the match that would make him as miserable as possible. He didn't even know what he was going to tell Guinevere. Perhaps they could run away together. That was probably the only way they would be able to be together. But how could he ask Guinevere to leave everything she knew just for him? And what of his duty to the kingdom?

Arthur was so glad that he had not inherited the throne. At least as the Queen's brother he knew that she would be here protecting the kingdom with or without him. But his disappearance would cause her so much trouble and she already had so much on her plate ruling Camelot even on a good day. Morgana was his only sister and he didn't want to leave her with a disaster to sort out all on her own.

If only he could think of some way to break off the engagement without insulting King Ecsed and his daughter. He wished Merlin was around. Arthur often came up with surprisingly good ideas after talking to his servant.

What kind of terrible servant vanishes all day and doesn't even bring his master lunch anyways? Apparently all those lessons with George must have amounted to nothing. Apart from transcribing word-for-word George's lecture on polishing and giving it to Arthur to memorize as a speech to the guild of harness polishers, Merlin seemed to have gotten nothing out of it.

As if his thoughts had summoned him, Merlin suddenly burst through the door.

"There you are, Merlin," Arthur began, "Where have you been?"

"Arthur, I need to tell you something."

"Go on then, tell me what you have been doing all day instead of, you know – _your job_!"

"No, I need to tell you something important."

"So you don't think your job is important? I suppose that would explain a lot, but if you are so dissatisfied perhaps you would like a different position – like cleaning the castle's chamber pots."

"Arthur will you just listen to me, this is important."

Arthur sighed, "Fine, what is it Merlin?"

Merlin hesitated, "I'm going to tell you something."

"So you have said. Are you actually going to tell me?"

Merlin opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking very nervous. Finally he appeared to steel his nerves and said, "I have magic. I'm a sorcerer."

Arthur couldn't image what could have possessed Merlin to say something like that. He could only assume it was supposed to be one of his very inappropriate jokes.

"Very funny, Merlin."

"I'm serious, Arthur. You have been enchanted. I'm going to try to break it but I need your help."

"Merlin, I know my own mind - I'm not enchanted. And if you have been dabbling in the dark arts trying to learn magic just to break some curse that your tiny brain has somehow convinced itself exists…"

"Arthur please, you have to trust me. Just think about the throne. Try to remember everything you can about it."

Merlin was acting even weirder than the time that he had been convinced the castle was infested with woodworm. Had he seriously been trying to learn _magic_ of all things? Could Merlin be any more stupid?

"I am not going to cooperate in your attempt to learn magic, Merlin! Is that what you have been doing all day?"

"Please, Arthur, just this once - listen to me!"

Arthur needed to stop this before it got any further. There was no way Merlin could have actually learned any magic in one day and Arthur decided it would be best to play along with him for now in order to convince him to abandon this endeavour. Most likely his natural laziness would be enough to make him give up once he realized that he hadn't accomplished anything and then Arthur would also have a long talk with Merlin about the dangers of dabbling in magic.

"Ok, I'll go along with your little trick but only if you promise me that when nothing happens you will give up on this new highly illegal hobby."

"Of course, Arthur, whatever you say. Now just concentrate on anything you can remember about the throne."

Arthur closed his eyes and pictured the throne. He remembered Morgana sitting on it and how it was a symbol of her rule. He remembered how before her, his father had sat on the throne, as had generations of Pendragons before him.

"Are you doing it?" asked Merlin.

"Yes!" said Arthur in exasperation, opening his eyes to glare at Merlin.

Merlin gestured for him to continue and Arthur sighed and closed his eyes again, trying to recall his thoughts on the throne.

After a moment he heard Merlin speaking in a strange language with confidant tones and perfect pronunciation of strange sounds unknown in the common tongue.

Arthur's eyes flew open in shock and he saw Merlin's eyes glowing gold.

Arthur's heart sank. This was not some foolish first time dabbling in unknown powers. Merlin was a practiced sorcerer.

And Arthur had just given him permission to cast a spell on him. Crap.

Why would Merlin do this? Had he ever really known Merlin at all or had he been a sorcerer this whole time? The image of his best friend had been replaced by this unknown entity and he didn't know whether to yell at Merlin for what he had done or mourn the fact that he had never existed at all.

The spell ended and nothing seemed to have changed. Arthur had survived whatever Merlin had done to him unscathed. Maybe Merlin really had learned magic in an insane and misguided effort to help Arthur.

"Merlin, you…" Arthur began, and then it struck him.

Of course Merlin was a sorcerer! He was Emrys! They had already been through this and Arthur had condemned him and left him in the woods right when he had needed him most. And Merlin – Merlin had come back for him.

"Arthur?" asked Merlin uncertainly.

"You came back," Arthur said in awe. He should have known Merlin wouldn't give up on him so easily.

"Arthur, please believe me, I didn't kill your parents," Merlin said, speaking very quickly, "The Lady Ygraine was being controlled. Nothing she told you was true. I swear I have always been loyal to you…"

"Shut up, Merlin," Arthur interrupted him, unwilling to listen to Merlin needlessly defend himself when Arthur was the one who was at fault.

Merlin cut off his words abruptly and seemed to shrink back, looking apprehensive.

Merlin needn't have done this, Arthur realized. He could have left Arthur to continue to live under Morgana's enchantment where he knew nothing of Merlin's true nature. It would have been safer and easier for him, since he believed that Arthur still hated him and wanted him dead. And yet he had thrown that away without a thought to restore Arthur to his true self.

Arthur walked up to Merlin, making the worried look on his face turn to fear. Then he grabbed Merlin's shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Merlin," was all he could say.

He drew back and saw that there were tears in Merlin's eyes again.

He gripped Merlin's shoulder in a gesture of manly camaraderie and looked him straight in the eye.

"Thank you for coming back for me."

Merlin wiped away a tear and said with a goofy smile, "Well I figured you wouldn't last a day without me."

Trust Merlin to break the seriousness of any moment.

Arthur laughed. His previous worries that Merlin's personality had just been part of the front for Emrys were quickly diminishing. This was the Merlin he had always known.

Morgana may be in control of the kingdom, but Arthur felt like he could do anything just now, so long as Merlin was at his side.

"Can you break the spell," he asked hopefully, "and make everyone remember?"

"Well, I figured out how to do it on individual people, but they have to be conscious and concentrating on memories of the throne, which means they would see me using magic on them."

Well that was something at least. It would take ages to do everyone one at a time, especially with them all freaking out about the fact that Merlin was a sorcerer, and he would have to deal with half the people being loyal to Morgana while half were loyal to him, not to mention Morgana herself.

Actually, Arthur realized, that was a horrible plan. Maybe they should save that idea for use only as a last resort.

"I've already restored Gaius' memories," Merlin added.

"Wait, Gaius saw you do magic?"

"Umm, he already knew."

"He…" Arthur trailed off. For some reason he had taken it for granted that no one in Camelot knew about Merlin. And Gaius had been his father's strongest ally in the fight against magic. "How long has he known?"

"Since the day we met."

Arthur would have to re-evaluate what he knew about Gaius. He must have been a really good actor to have everyone convinced that he was so firmly against magic, even with them knowing he had once practiced it.

"Does anybody else know?"

"No. Well –" Merlin amended, "no one else in Camelot."

"So no one we can un-enchant without raising difficult questions," Arthur surmised.

"Basically, yeah. Gaius is reading up on the Amulet of Dhakira now, trying to find a way to break the spell."

"How come you weren't affected?"

"I was outside the citadel at the time. I saw some farmers coming into the city being arrested at the gates for claiming that Morgana wasn't the queen so I think it only affected people within a certain radius. I was all prepared to sneak back into the castle but it turned out that all I needed to do was act like everything was normal and I could move around easily. It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on."

"So you were coming to sneak back into the castle even after everything I said to you in the woods?" Arthur asked, wondering why he ever expected anything else.

"Well, you told me to leave and I just thought to myself – why start obeying orders now?" Merlin said with a wry smile.

But Arthur wasn't going to let Merlin shrug off his incredible act of loyalty as a joke. Everything was coming together in Arthur's mind – Emrys using his incredible powers to protect him for years with no recognition, Merlin standing by his side through every trial that he faced regardless of any danger or discomfort to himself, Emrys believing in him as a king despite having ample reason not to, Merlin giving him advise and encouragement that had kept him going all these years…

There was something that needed to be said.

"Thank you Merlin," Arthur said sincerely, meeting Merlin's eyes, "Everything you have done for me all these years – thank you. You are the most loyal friend I could ever have hoped for."

Merlin stared at Arthur as though he couldn't quite believe that he had said that. He seemed unable to formulate a response.

The moment was broken by a knock on the door.

"Enter," called Arthur.

"Sire," said a guard, opening the door, "the Queen requires your presence in the throne room."

Arthur nodded and the guard bowed and left. Arthur turned back to Merlin.

"We'll have to go," he said apprehensively.

Merlin nodded, "Just try to act like you are still under the spell. We don't want Morgana realizing that you know about her."

* * *

When they arrived in the throne room they found Morgana lounging smugly on the throne and the room packed with knights, councillors, nobles and servants. It seemed that Morgana had summoned a full council.

Arthur waited apprehensively for what she would say. After a few more people had trickled in, Morgana sat up proudly on the throne, commanding the attention of everyone in the room without even a word.

"I have assembled you all here to announce a change to the laws of Camelot," she declared.

Arthur was about to protest that she couldn't do that, before he remembered that none of the changes to legislation that he had made since taking the throne would apply under Morgana's rule.

"It is the duty of the monarchy to hold power over their kingdom," Morgana began, "For the most effective rule, any power able to assist in reigning over the land should be available to the rulers – for the good of all."

Morgana stood from her throne and held her head high.

"I therefore declare that all members of the royal family be henceforth exempt from the laws banning witchcraft and sorcery."

That caused a stir in the people assembled. Shocked faces littered every corner of the room and a buzz of muttering had broken out.

"The people of Camelot have trusted their lives to the Pendragon family and that trust means nothing if it does not extend to every aspect of our actions. The power to use magic will merely be an extension of the rule that Camelot's citizens already trust us to enforce upon them."

Arthur had to give credit to Morgana's plan. Declaring a completely abolition of the ban on magic would have caused public outcry, but in changing the law so that only a few people were allowed access to that power, there would be less panic. And as the only legal sorceress in Camelot, few would be brave enough to cross her.

The people gathered in the room looked frightened but Morgana probably hadn't pushed them to the point of open rebellion.

"The council is dismissed," Morgana declared.

As the people filed out, muttering fearfully to each other, Arthur turned to leave as well, but Morgana called to him.

"Arthur, I was hoping you would join me and Agravaine for dinner tonight."

Arthur stared at her. This was the woman who had betrayed her own family, ordered innocent people killed to make a point, released the dorocha on the lands…

Merlin kicked the back of Arthur's foot from where he was standing slightly behind him, stirring Arthur from his stupor.

"Of course, I would love to," Arthur said with an attempt at a smile.

"Then I will meet you in the dining hall momentarily," Morgana replied.

As Arthur left the throne room, now dreading dinner, Merlin whispered to him, "You need to act natural or Morgana will suspect that something is up."

"I know Merlin," Arthur said irritably. It was easier said than done. Just because Merlin had hitherto unsuspected phenomenal acting skills didn't mean that everyone did. "Go and help Gaius find a way to break the spell. I will see you after dinner."

* * *

As Arthur took his place at the table beside Agravaine and across from Morgana, he knew without a doubt that this was the most uncomfortable family dinner he had ever attended. And that was saying something considering the family that he was from.

"That was an… interesting announcement you made today," said Arthur. It was not easy to make conversation with Morgana, knowing what he did about her.

"It is only a first step towards a new world where magic reigns supreme," Morgana said, as though vying for a fight with Arthur on the issue.

"Hmm," said Arthur, noncommittally.

How would he have reacted to this if he had still been under Morgana's spell? He was having trouble even imagining how he would have felt about it.

"Have you got a problem with the new laws, Arthur?" Morgana asked heatedly.

Fine, he thought, if Morgana wanted a reaction out of him he would give her one, just not the one she was expecting.

"No, I think it is a good idea to bring magic back to the kingdom," he said, "If I was king, I would also make changes to the laws against magic and help people realize that it can be a force for good."

Arthur watched Morgana's expression turn to one of shock. He could see the woman he had once considered a sister still in her somewhere, perhaps now wondering whether everything she had done had been unnecessary.

"Of course," Arthur continued remorselessly, "I would have to make the changes gradual to avoid civil unrest. It might cause some people to mistakenly think that I held the same views of magic as my father."

If only she had not turned against the kingdom they could still be friends. Her having magic wouldn't have mattered to Arthur in the end. He wanted her to realize that.

For a moment Morgana looked extremely vulnerable. She seemed unaware that her mouth was slightly open and she blinked several times while staring at Arthur. But then her expression changed to one of poorly-controlled fury. She stood up and slammed her hands down on the table, causing her cutlery to clatter.

"You are a liar!" She screamed, "You would say anything to put yourself in a good light! You are a hypocrite just like your father!"

And she stormed out of the room.

Arthur supposed that could have gone better.

"Sire," said Agravaine, who had remained silent until this point, "what you said about how you would make gradual changes to the laws against magic if you were king…"

"What about it?" asked Arthur, surprised by the almost suspicious tone in Agravaine's voice.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said, "I just thought it sounded familiar."

Something in Agravaine's tone caught Arthur's attention. Could Agravaine be remembering the council Arthur had just recently held about changes to the law? Perhaps his uncle had realized the implications his reductions to the crimes punishable by death had for the laws against sorcery. But if so, that would mean that the memory spell wasn't working on him.

Hope filled Arthur. It was a long-shot, but he had to know if he had just found another ally.

"Uncle," he said lowering his voice and leaning forwards, "what do you remember about the council yesterday?"

"The council?" asked Agravaine cautiously.

"There was a council," said Arthur, being careful to phrase his words in a way that he could explain away if his hunch about Agravaine's memory turned out to be wrong, "in which a king proposed some changes to the laws concerning the death penalty in his kingdom."

Agravaine looked sharply at Arthur.

"You remember too?" he asked.

"So you _do_ remember me being king?" Arthur asked, hope rising.

"Yes," Agravaine said, "it seems as though everyone has been placed under some kind of enchantment. I just tried to play along."

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. The spell must not have affected everyone in Camelot.

"We found a magical object that caused this enchantment but we couldn't stop it before it activated because it can only be destroyed by magic."

Agravaine nodded in understanding, "If it can only be destroyed by magic, then Morgana must have been waiting for the news that Emrys was dead to use this object."

Arthur frowned, "But Emrys isn't dead, so why would she think that he was?"

"He isn't dead?" Agravaine asked in surprise and Arthur shook his head.

Agravaine was looking rather nervous, and Arthur could hardly blame him. His uncle was not used to going on dangerous missions, so being in this situation must be very frightening for him.

"We just have to pretend that nothing is wrong for now. Merlin and Gaius are looking for a way to break the curse so we should be able to put things to right soon enough," he said reassuringly.

Agravaine raised his eyebrows, "So they remember too?"

"Yes," said Arthur, "Don't worry, Morgana doesn't realize that we are not enchanted so she will likely not act against us."

Agravaine leaned forward.

"Perhaps we should seek the help of Emrys in breaking this curse," he said.

"Emrys?" said Arthur, surprised.

"If the object you found can only be destroyed by magic we might have no other choice. And from your description I'm sure he means us no harm, even if he is a sorcerer."

Agravaine had no idea that Arthur had already acquired the help of Emrys. But how was he to explain this to his uncle.

"I must ask you Arthur, do you know where to find Emrys?"

Arthur momentarily considered telling Agravaine a half-truth and claiming that he did know the identity of Emrys but could not reveal it to him. But then he realized how difficult such a deception would be to maintain. If they were going to work together Agravaine was almost certain to find out anyways and wasting energy on trying to keep all the facts from a trusted ally was liable to hinder rather than help their cause. Agravaine had near enough admitted that he would be willing to trust Emrys and he was loyal enough to Arthur not to reveal a secret as important as this. Besides, it would be better to tell him everything now, when he had a chance to explain and smooth things over, rather than in a direct confrontation with Merlin.

Arthur glanced around and leaned in towards Agravaine, dropping his voice to a whisper, "I want you to swear to me that you will not reveal this information to anyone."

Agravaine replied solemnly, "I swear on my life I will not tell a soul."

"Merlin is Emrys," Arthur said simply.

Agravaine's eyebrows shot up in a rather comical fashion.

"Merlin?" he said incredulously.

Arthur was glad to know that he wasn't the only one who hadn't seen that coming.

"I know it is hard to believe, but you must trust me uncle," he endeavored to explain, "Merlin has proved to be unfailingly loyal to me and although he has been hiding the fact that he practices magic, I trust him absolutely and I want you to do the same."

Agravaine seemed to have recovered from his shock enough to reply, "Of course, I know how loyal Merlin has been to you all these years. Although his deception comes as a surprised, I'm sure he means well."

Good old Agravaine. Arthur knew he could count on him to understand.

"Come on," he said slapping Agravaine's arm and standing up, encouraged by his response.

Arthur left the room with Agravaine following. With any luck Merlin and Gaius would know how to break the spell by now, Morgana still didn't know they were on to her and Agravaine had just joined the group of people who were working against her. Despite the situation the kingdom was in, Arthur couldn't help but feel things were going surprisingly smoothly.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **Princess Eliza is based on Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (even though it is the wrong period of history). In Morgana's world of modified memories it would raise questions if she just killed Arthur and Gwen, so she decides to psychologically torture them instead by making Arthur marry a psychopath.**

 **Morgana never used the amulet in the show because she was afraid Emrys would destroy it, killing her.**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Arthur headed for Gaius' chambers, wanting to check how Merlin and Gaius were doing with their task of finding a way to break the enchantment.

Agravaine followed him silently down the first few corridors, but when Arthur turned down the corridor leading to the physician's chambers Agravaine suddenly stopped walking.

"I think it would be best if I went and found out where Morgana is," he said, "We should keep track of her whereabouts."

"It's too dangerous," Arthur replied.

"Sire, I insist," Agravaine said firmly, "I will go and keep an eye on Morgana while you check how Merlin and Gaius are getting along."

"No, if Morgana realizes that you are spying on her she would surely kill you. We should stick together."

Arthur continued walking towards the physician's chambers, but soon realized that Agravaine was not following him. He looked back at his uncle, who was standing at the end of the corridor looking lost, and gave him a stern look to remind him that Arthur was the king and they were going to do things his way.

Agravaine reluctantly joined him and they entered Gaius' chambers.

"Arthur, we…" Merlin started when Arthur entered the room, but stopped when he saw Agravaine.

"It's alright," said Arthur, "he knows."

"He knows what?" asked Merlin.

"That you are Emrys," Arthur replied, "but don't worry, he is ok with it and he has sworn not to tell anyone."

Merlin did not look happy at the news that Agravaine knew and accepted his true identity. In fact, he looked rather horrified. He was standing stock still with his mouth open, looking like someone had just whacked him in the face with a lance.

Arthur suddenly felt a little bit guilty for having shared Merlin's secret without his permission. Perhaps he shouldn't have done that. Merlin had been living in the shadows for his whole life and it must be very unnerving to find out that someone had learned who he really was.

Merlin glanced from Agravaine to Gaius, who gave him a stern look of warning. Merlin gave Gaius an imploring look and they then seemed to have a silent conversation using only their eyebrows.

"Have you found out how to break the enchantment?" Arthur interrupted. He didn't have time for whatever was going on between those two.

With a particularly harsh look from Gaius, Merlin appeared to concede whatever silent argument they had been having. He glanced at Agravaine before looking at Arthur and saying, "There is another matter we must deal with first."

"Which is?" asked Arthur, wondering what could possibly be more important.

"The lady Ygraine," said Merlin, gesturing to her body, which was still lying on Gaius' work bench.

Arthur was rather surprised that she hadn't been moved yet.

"The magic that summoned her as a shade is even now binding her to Morgana's will and preventing her from resting in peace," Merlin continued, "Her soul must be released from these bonds."

Arthur went to his mother. It broke his heart to think that she had been used by Morgana and was still unable to be at peace because of it.

"Can you do it?" he asked, looking back at Merlin.

"There is a spell," he replied, "but I thought you should be here when I perform it, as she will probably wake up for a short moment before returning to her rest."

Arthur nodded at Merlin and he came closer. It was a good thing that Agravaine was here now, since this was the only chance he would have to see his sister again. But when Arthur looked over to Agravaine, he found him still standing on the other side of the room looking terrified.

"Uncle?"

Agravaine just shook his head, appearing unable to speak. Arthur didn't understand his reluctance to come near. When Agravaine still did not approach even after some encouraging gestures by Arthur, Arthur turned back to Merlin. Merlin gave him a questioning look and he gestured for Merlin to continue and took a seat at his mother's side, holding her hand in his.

"Grith fæstne mid thisse tintregedan sawole!" Merlin said, placing his hand on Ygraine's forehead.

Ygraine's eyes flew open and she drew a deep breath.

"Arthur," she said in wonder.

"Mother."

"I am so proud of the man you have become, my son," she said looking up at him, "Promise me you will always be true to your heart, Arthur. Don't ever lose your capacity to love; it gives you a strength greater than any weapon."

"I promise, mother," said Arthur, his eyes filling with tears.

Ygraine then glanced to the side and said in a sad and disappointed voice, "Agravaine."

Arthur followed her gaze and saw his uncle backing away, shaking his head slowly and seemingly muttering something under his breath. He looked like a man caught out in a terrible crime.

Arthur looked back at his mother and she looked up at him and smiled again.

"I love you Arthur," she said and then her eyes closed and her body went limp.

Arthur allowed the tears that had formed to fall. His mother was at peace now. He had seen false images and of her before, but now he had finally been able to hear her real words to him and he would never forget this blessing.

He steeled his nerve and wiped his eyes, turning to the other in the room, who had respectfully allowed him his moment of grief in silence.

Agravaine was pale as a sheet and still looking extraordinarily guilty, though Arthur couldn't imagine why.

He turned his mind back to the matter at hand.

"Have you found out how to break the curse?"

"We have," said Gaius.

He picked a massive book up from his table and began reading, "The Amulet of Dhakira is a complex magic artifact and its use is governed by very specific rules. In order for it to cast its spell, a sorcerer must bind it to their soul, making themselves one with the amulet and then place it on the object around which they want to alter people's memories. The amulet then binds with the object over a time before activating and casting its spell. In this period the sorcerer is most vulnerable because they must stay outside the range of the spell, unable to protect the amulet. But if the amulet is destroyed, the sorcerer will also die."

Arthur nodded along. Gaius had told him all of this when they first found the amulet.

Gaius continued reading, "After the spell is activated, it requires a constant supply of energy from a living source in order to sustain itself. The sorcerer must therefore place the amulet around the neck of a living being, from which it will draw power. Some sorcerers may choose to use themselves as the carriers of the amulet, however wearing the amulet for an extended period of time will shorten the life span of the wearer. It is also possible to change whom the amulet draws power from, but the amulet can be removed from a person's neck only by the sorcerer to whom it is bound. The amulet's weakness therefore, is determined by its carrier, for only if the person wearing the amulet dies can it be destroyed while it is in their possession. Destroying the amulet will kill the sorcerer; however, since the amulet safeguards the sorcerer's soul, they cannot be killed while the amulet remains whole."

Gaius closed the book.

"So in essence, Sire," he summarized, "we need to find the person who has the amulet and kill them."

"Do you think Morgana has it?" Arthur asked.

"It is possible she would not want to trust it with anyone else, however I rather doubt she would want to keep it with her, as the book warns that it would slowly drain her life away."

"But who else could have it?"

"If she believes that no one who knew of the amulet would have escaped her enchantment, she may feel confident entrusting it to someone else. Wearing the amulet herself would also allow personal attacks on her to kill her, since killing her would destroy the amulet at the same time. Otherwise she could not be killed so long as no one knew to kill the person with the amulet. It could be in the hands of just about anyone she might have deemed suitable."

Arthur did not like the idea that they may have to kill whichever unfortunate soul Morgana had given the amulet to in order to break the curse but he decided to worry about that after they had located it.

"We need to find out who has the amulet," he said addressing his three companions.

"Why don't we split up and search?" suggested Agravaine.

"Very well," agreed Arthur, "check everyone you run across in the castle but be discrete. We will meet back here in one hour."

Agravaine grinned and nodded, heading for the door, but Merlin got there first, standing firmly between Agravaine and the exit.

"Merlin," Gaius warned.

"We can't let him go to Morgana," Merlin said to him.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Arthur asked.

"The traitor in Camelot – it was Agravaine all along," Merlin replied, glaring at the man in question.

It hurt Arthur's heart to hear Merlin make such an accusation. He had known that Merlin had never been fond of his uncle and had come close to suggesting this kind of thing in the past, but they needed to work together now. Merlin needed to put aside his unfounded suspicions.

"You are mistaken, Merlin," said Arthur warningly.

"Then why was he not affected by the amulet?"

"I was outside of the castle when the spell hit," said Agravaine smoothly.

"Doing what?" asked Merlin.

Arthur was about to forbid Merlin from further interrogating his uncle, but suddenly noticed a flash of something that looked like worry cross Agravaine's face before he replied, "I was going for a ride."

Arthur suddenly thought back to how Agravaine had looked inexplicably guilty moments ago when Ygraine had said his name with disappointment in her voice. Perhaps his uncle _was_ hiding something.

"And why did you say that the Lady Ygraine was real?" Merlin continued.

"I believed her to be my sister, although as it turns out, I was wrong," Agravaine replied before addressing Arthur, "My Lord, must I be questioned in this way?"

Arthur turned to tell Merlin to stop. Even if Agravaine was hiding something, he was not a traitor to Camelot and did not deserve to be treated in this way. However, before he had a chance to say anything Merlin got one more question in.

"As a shade, the Lady Ygraine could know only things that Morgana told her. How did she convince you that she was real?"

Arthur frowned. He hadn't known that about shades. Agravaine had told him that Ygraine remembered everything from their childhood, but what would Morgana know of Ygraine and Agravaine's past together?

But Agravaine couldn't be the traitor working with Morgana. He just couldn't. Except, Arthur remembered, he had suspected Agravaine once before of being the traitor when all the evidence at the time had pointed to him. He had put the matter aside, believing he had been mistaken, but what if he had not been wrong at that time?

Arthur looked to his uncle to see how he would reply. Surely there was a simple explanation. However, Agravaine did not appear to have an answer for Merlin.

"Sire, please," he said, turning to Arthur, "This interrogation – it is not dignified."

Arthur wanted to trust his uncle, but Agravaine's deflection of the question was making him very suspicious.

"Answer the question, uncle," he said quietly.

"The shade of Ygraine told me things that I remembered from our childhood," Agravaine said, "Morgana must have heard of them from someone else. And I was so overwhelmed by seeing my sister again and so desperate for her to be real that I perhaps did not probe deep enough when I spoke to her."

Arthur nodded, it could be true. And they had to give Agravaine the benefit of the doubt. It would be unfair to accuse him of treachery when they had no solid evidence. Arthur looked at Merlin, expecting him to step aside. But Merlin still looked like he had no intention of letting Agravaine leave the room.

"I've seen him with Morgana!" he suddenly shouted, seeming to have reached a point of desperation, "He visits her in a hut in the woods!"

"My Lord," said Agravaine "These accusations are unfounded. He has no proof but his word."

"It's not just me!" said Merlin in frustration, turning to Gaius and saying, "Tell them Gaius!"

Arthur turned to Gaius in surprise. If he knew something of this then why hadn't he said anything?

"Sire," said Gaius, "When I was kidnapped last month, Lord Agravaine was with Morgana and the others who held me captive and was working with them."

Arthur felt his heart sink. So it was true then. Both Merlin and Gaius had seen Agravaine in the act of treachery. It was their word against his and with that and all the evidence that hinted towards Agravaine, Arthur could come to no other conclusion.

But why would his uncle betray him? Why would he betray his own sister? Then Arthur realized – Ygraine must have known. That was why she had such sadness and disappointment in her voice when she had said his name. Agravaine's fear and guilt when he had been confronted with the real Ygraine, despite the lack of any such thing when he had faced the shade – it all made sense.

Arthur drew his sword and pointed it at Agravaine, shaking with rage.

"Why?" he demanded.

"My Lord!" Agravaine protested, "Surely you don't believe any of this!"

"Do not try my patience, uncle," said Arthur, "I have had enough of your lies."

Agravaine looked around in fear. Merlin was blocking his path to the exit and Arthur was only several feet away with a sword. He looked like a trapped animal.

"Why have you been working for Morgana," Arthur repeated his question. He tried to keep his voice level. The feeling of betrayal was absolute but he supressed the anger because he needed to understand why his own uncle had done this.

"Because she too has suffered at the hands of Uther and she will tear down the kingdom of lies that he built on the blood of innocents!" Agravaine shouted, abandoning his pretences.

"Whatever happened between yourself and my father is no longer relevant. He is not the king anymore. Why work against me?" asked Arthur.

"No longer relevant?" Agravaine said incredulously, "When you – the prize for which Uther murdered my sister and brother – arrogantly continue to uphold his legacy!"

"What do you mean my father murdered your sister and brother?

Arthur knew nothing of his uncle Tristan, except that he died long before Arthur could remember. And he had long ago dismissed the claim that his father had been responsible for his mother's death. That has clearly been an invention of Morgause; a plot to bring the kingdom down.

"Tristan knew something!" said Agravaine, slowly backing away from Arthur, "When the news arrived at our estate that Ygraine had died in childbirth he swore vengeance against Uther for using her in some kind of magical ritual to produce an heir. I never heard the full story because Tristan never returned from his trip to Camelot to confront Uther. We gave permission when he asked for our sister's hand in marriage and he repaid us by tearing our family apart! I would rather die than see Uther's spawn – the cause of Ygraine's death – rule the kingdom that Morgana deserves more than anyone!"

Arthur froze. Agravaine's story sounded eerily similar to the claims that the illusion Morgause summoned of his mother had made. Could there be a grain of truth in it?

"But you heard what the Lady Ygraine said to Arthur just now," Merlin interjected, "Do you really think she would approve of you betraying her son?"

"Ygraine would never have understood!" Agravaine said, turning to face Merlin, "She was blinded by love for Uther and her son without realizing how she had been used! We should never have let her go to Camelot! Uther poisoned her mind!"

Agravaine turned back to face Arthur again, and then suddenly he swung around, aiming a dagger he had pulled from somewhere right between Merlin's eyes. Arthur's brain suddenly registered that he had been inching closer to Merlin and the door the whole time he had been speaking. Arthur leaped forward, but Merlin had already raised both his hands, his eyes were glowing gold and Agravaine was flying backwards. He crashed into the table and collapsed on the floor.

Gaius knelt down to check on him.

"Is he…" asked Arthur, not sure whether he was hoping Agravaine was dead or alive.

"He should be fine," Gaius replied, "But he'll be out cold for some time."

Arthur looked at Gaius and Merlin.

"Is what he said true?" he asked, directing the question mainly to Gaius.

Gaius looked down, avoiding his eyes.

"Sire, I swore to your father that I would never speak of these things," Gaius said.

Arthur's heart sunk, "So it is true?"

"When your parents were unable to conceive, Uther sent me to request help from a sorceress called Nimueh," Gaius explained, "She agreed to cast a spell that would allow them to have a child, but warned him that there would be a price to pay. In order to create a life there had to be a death to maintain the balance of the world. However, Uther never realized that the price would be paid by Ygraine. I don't know who he thought would die. Perhaps he had deluded himself, or simply did not want to ask. All I know is that when the queen died, Uther blamed Nimueh for tricking him and declared war on magic. Tristan blamed Uther and challenged him to single combat and Uther killed him in a fair fight."

So it was true. But his father hadn't known. It was some comfort to him that his father hadn't outright murdered either Ygraine or Tristan as he had feared, whatever poor choices he had made that had led to their deaths. But the guilt of being responsible for his mother's death that had haunted Arthur his whole life was more real than it had even been before. She hadn't just died in childbirth, her life had literally been taken as payment for his.

"So I really was the cause of my mother's death," said Arthur.

"Arthur, you had no say in that matter," Merlin said firmly, "And you heard your mother. She loves you. She knows everything that happened and she does not blame you, so you should not blame yourself."

Another thought occurred to Arthur.

"When Morgause summoned my mother…" he started.

"That was an illusion," said Merlin, anticipating Arthur's question, "Most of what she told you was true but it was a version of events told from Morgause's perspective."

Arthur nodded. He figured Merlin would know better than anyone. And then he remembered. Merlin – a sorcerer – had stopped him from killing Uther by convincing Arthur not to trust magic. That could not have been easy. Merlin would only have benefitted if Arthur had gone through with it. He was grateful, since Merlin's sacrifice had prevented him from doing something he would have forever regretted and from assuming the throne in blood and conflict. It would have likely destroyed the kingdom and Merlin, in his surprising wisdom, had seen that when even Arthur had not.

But he needed to put these matters aside for now. They had more pressing things to deal with.

"We need to find out where the amulet is," he said, getting back on track.

Merlin leaned over Agravaine and pulled his shirt back a bit, "Well Agravaine doesn't have it."

"We'll go with the original plan then," said Arthur, "Gaius, stay here and if Agravaine starts to wake up, give him something to knock him out again. Merlin and I will search for the amulet and meet back here."

Gaius and Merlin nodded their understanding and the three of them split up.

Arthur headed towards Morgana's chambers. He knew that she would most likely not be wearing the amulet herself, but he desperately hoped she would be. First of all, he had no idea who, other than herself or Agravaine, Morgana would think of entrusting the amulet to. Secondly, and more importantly, he could not think of anyone else that he could kill with an easy conscience, even to break a curse.

When he arrived at Morgana's door, Guinevere answered his knock.

"Is Morgana here?"

"No, but she should be retiring soon if you'd like to wait for her," Guinevere replied with a smile.

She held the door open as an invitation for Arthur to come in, which at any other time he would have accepted, glad for a few moments alone with her.

But Arthur just stared at her now in horror for a few seconds before muttering out a quick, "Sorry but I'm really busy right now," and turning and racing back towards Gaius' chambers.

He had just seen the Amulet of Dhakira – hanging around Guinevere's neck.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **I know Ygraine was awake for a lot longer that Lancelot was when Merlin did his soul-release spell in the show but it would have been sad if she didn't have time to say anything to Arthur. There's probably some random variation in soul-becoming-at-peace wake-up times anyways.**

 **A large part of Agravaine's motivation to work for Morgana is that he is clearly infatuated with her. But he is probably in denial about that and even if he isn't, he certainly isn't going to tell Arthur that. What he said to Arthur about his motives is what he tells himself to justify his actions.**

 **This is my least favourite chapter because there is so much hashing out of information and there isn't really anything original to add to Arthur finding out about Agravaine or the truth about his birth that hasn't been done before. But it was all stuff that needed to be said in order to get on with the story.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Arthur, Merlin and Gaius stood around a chair where they had placed an unconscious Agravaine. Gaius held a container of smelling salts that he assured them would wake Agravaine instantly. Merlin stood behind him with a look of concentration, ready to use magic.

Having located the amulet, they spent the next half-hour coming up with a plan for what to do next. They had all agreed that killing Guinevere was out of the question, hence the much more elaborate measures they were about to go through.

Gaius waved the smelling salts under Agravaine's nose and his eyes flew open. He jumped to his feet, but Merlin was already incanting his spell.

"Mod wes craeftles."

It was difficult to tell if the spell had worked as it was supposed to. Arthur's plan hinged on Agravaine being enchanted and under their control, but it had to be done inconspicuously so that Morgana would not suspect anything. However Agravaine swayed on the spot as though the spell had simply made him dizzy and confused.

"How do you feel?" Arthur asked him.

"Never better!" he replied with a childish smile, sounding nothing like himself.

It was not very encouraging.

"Pick up that mug," Arthur said to Agravaine, to see if he would obey.

Agravaine picked up a mug that was sitting on Gaius' table, not paying the least attention to keeping it upright. All of the water that had been in the half-filled mug splashed onto the floor. Agravaine looked surprised and held the mug upside down above his head, looking back and forth between the empty inside of the cup and the puddle of water on the floor as if wondering how that had happened.

"You think that is inconspicuous?!" Arthur asked in frustration, rounding on Merlin.

Arthur had been under the impression that Merlin's magic was pretty much infallible. As glad as he was that Merlin was still Merlin, he had hoped that Merlin's tendency to massively screw up his instructions would not extend to his ability to perform the magic that Arthur ordered him to.

"Sorry but I don't use this kind of magic very often!" Merlin protested, "I've never tried controlling someone before!"

Arthur supposed he should be glad to have absolute assurance that Merlin really had never enchanted him before. He had been worried that, despite trusting Merlin, he would always have occasional doubts about whether everything that he knew had been tempered by Merlin changing his mind about things. He would inevitably have quashed the thoughts but there would never be a way to be sure, since he certainly would never know if Merlin had enchanted him. So he should be glad to have proof that that had never been the case, but at the moment he was too busy being annoyed by Merlin's uselessness when he was supposed to be an all-powerful sorcerer. Had Arthur been so impressed and intimidated by Emrys only because of the air of mystery generated by his cloak?

Agravaine tried sticking his hand into the mug, only to get it stuck.

"You've turned him into a simpleton!" Arthur said in exasperation, and Agravaine nodded in agreement.

"Umm, I'll find something better," said Merlin, dashing into his room and knocking a pile of papers off of Gaius' table on the way.

Arthur rolled his eyes, as Agravaine tried unsuccessfully to pull the mug off of his fist, feeling like he was surrounded by children.

A moment later, Merlin emerged from his room with a large, ancient and very illegal looking book clutched in his hands. Arthur wondered where he had been hiding it, considering the number of times he had personally conducted searches for evidence of sorcery that had included looking through Merlin's room.

Merlin rifled through several pages of the book before stopping to read a page full of words that looked like nonsense to Arthur. After a moment he looked up from the book and held a hand out towards Agravaine, who was now banging his hand on the table in an effort to remove the mug.

"Eadmóde ond hiersumian eac niedaes," Merlin said, with a flash of gold in his eyes.

Agravaine straightened up and removed the mug from his hand, simply by unclenching the fist that he had shoved into it.

He then sank to one knee before Merlin and said, "My Liege, your word is my command."

Arthur failed to stifle his snort.

Merlin himself looked taken aback by the result of his spell.

"Umm, just act normally," he said.

Agravaine stood up.

Arthur glanced at Merlin, who simultaneously glanced back at him.

So far so good, Arthur supposed.

"Will you be able to convince Morgana that you are still working for her?" he asked Agravaine.

"I believe that I can handle that, Sire," Agravaine replied.

He certainly sounded like himself now. Perhaps their plan was not doomed to failure after all.

It did not take long for Merlin to give Agravaine his instructions and the three of them headed off to take their positions.

Arthur hid himself around a corner where he couldn't be seen, as Merlin knocked on Morgana's door. It was late enough that Morgana should be in there, with Guinevere getting her ready for bed.

"Merlin!" said Guinevere, answering the door, "Do you need something?"

"Have you seen a rat?" Merlin asked.

"A rat?" said Guinevere, raising an eyebrow.

"I chased it down the corridor but then it disappeared. It must have crawled under the door."

"I haven't seen any rats in here."

"There," shouted Merlin suddenly and ran past Guinevere into the room.

Arthur inched along the corridor wall and peered into the room. Morgana and Guinevere were both looking startled at Merlin, who was crouched down and searching underneath Morgana's bed. Arthur used their distraction to slip into the room and hide himself behind the changing screen. He pulled out the enchanted cloak Merlin had given and put it on.

Merlin straightened up.

"Strange," he said, "I could have sworn I saw it under there. I must have imagined it."

"Maybe it went into another room," said Guinevere helpfully.

Merlin walked up to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry," he said reassuringly, "I'll find it."

Guinevere looked a little surprised by Merlin's behaviour. She glanced at Morgana briefly and in the moment when her eyes were averted, Arthur saw Merlin's eyes glow golden and the amulet around Guinevere's neck vanished.

The amulet was still there of course, just invisible. The illusion that Merlin cast over it only held while he had physical contact with Gwen, which was why Arthur was currently playing the part of Emrys. Morgana would have heard the description of how Emrys had appeared in Camelot from Agravaine and she should recognize the figure in the shadowy cloak as her enemy. Arthur readied himself to make his appearance.

"Didn't you have a necklace on earlier today?" Merlin asked casually.

Gwen looked down and Morgana looked up sharply, both of them noticing the distinct absence of the amulet around Gwen's neck.

"What have you done with it?!" Morgana screamed, leaping up from her chair and suddenly looking quite deranged.

Her shock was understandable since she would know full well that the amulet should be impossible for anyone but herself to remove.

"My… my Lady," Guinevere stuttered out, "it was there earlier. I never took it off."

Arthur took his cue and broke cover. He made sure that as he ran out the room he made it clear for Morgana to see that he was holding a fake amulet that Merlin had magically conjured earlier.

He heard Morgana's voice from within the room say in horrified disbelief, "It's him – Emrys!"

Arthur quickly ducked into a nearby storage room, removed the cloak and stowed it out of sight. He emerged from the room in time to see Morgana charge by. She completely ignored him.

Arthur jogged down to the end of the hall, where Agravaine was waiting, and handed the fake amulet to him. The first part of their plan had gone brilliantly.

By the time Arthur got back to Morgana's chambers, the warning bell was sounding and he could hear the heavy footfalls of guards storming about the castle.

When Arthur re-entered the room, he found Gwen looking very upset and Merlin sitting beside her on Morgana's bed with his arm comfortingly around her shoulder.

"I promised Morgana I wouldn't let anything happen to that amulet," she was saying.

Arthur had suggested that perhaps they should let Gwen in on the plan but Merlin had insisted that it would be far too difficult to explain and that only a genuine reaction was certain to work. Arthur had relented and agreed that she would be safer not knowing what was going on, but it was still difficult to see her so clearly upset.

It was not long before Morgana returned, looking angry and frightened.

"How did Emrys get the amulet?" she demanded sharply of Guinevere.

"I don't know," she said sadly, "It was like it just suddenly vanished."

"You must have noticed something!" Morgana said accusingly.

Before Guinevere could reply, the door opened and Agravaine walked in.

He walked directly up to the group of people and said smoothly to Morgana, "I managed to recover a certain precious artifact."

He pulled the fake amulet out from a pocket and quickly slipped it around Guinevere's neck.

Morgana stared at it for a second in sheer relief.

Agravaine distracted her by placing his hand on her arm and saying, "I live only to serve you my Lady."

Morgana glared at Agravaine and he removed his hand from where he was touching her.

Arthur saw Merlin use the moment when Morgana and Guinevere were both looking at Agravaine to surreptitiously touch the fake amulet, which vanished. Then he took his hand off of Gwen's shoulder, causing the real amulet to reappear.

Everyone looked back to the amulet around Guinevere's neck.

"My Lady, I swear I will not let it out of my possession again," Guinevere said.

"No," said Morgana sharply, "you are clearly not suited for the job."

She grabbed the amulet and pulled it, none too gently, off of Gwen's neck. She clutched the amulet tightly and looked rather at loss for what to do with it.

Guinevere looked incredibly hurt by Morgana's lack of trust in her.

"My Lady, might I suggest myself as the protector of your treasured amulet?" said Agravaine, stepping forward, "No one could be more devoted to you than I, and I would rather die than fail in a task you had appointed me to."

Morgana had rolled her eyes during the last part of Agravaine's speech, but she considered his words and after a moment she handed the amulet to him and said, "Put this on and if you fail to protect it I will…"

But her words broke off as she realized that Agravaine had not put the amulet on. The moment that it entered his possession he had turned and run for the door.

Morgana's reaction was too late and Agravaine was long gone by the time her spell bounced off the doorframe.

Arthur stopped himself from cheering out loud. Everything had worked out perfectly. Their main difficulty had been in the fact that while Guinevere wore the amulet, it could only be destroyed by killing her and that only Morgana herself could remove it from her. They had therefore endeavored to create a scenario in which they could trick her into doing just that.

Morgana chased after Agravaine, but the delay in her response meant that she shouldn't have had time to see which direction he had headed after leaving the room.

"Agravaine, he… what?" said Guinevere, stunned.

Arthur ran out of the room, he needed to get to Agravaine before Morgana. But he soon found that it was not just Merlin following him as expected, but Guinevere too.

"Guinevere, go wait in Morgana's chambers, I'll take care of this."

"No, I'm coming with you! It was my task to protect that amulet."

"It could be dangerous!"

"I'm not afraid of Agravaine," she said stubbornly.

Arthur gave up and kept running. He knew there would be no convincing her to stay behind.

They met Agravaine in Arthur's chambers as arranged. Guinevere looked shocked when she saw him and even more so when he handed the amulet to Merlin.

"Arthur, what is going on?" she asked.

How could he possibly explain?

Their plan to get the amulet had gone perfectly. Now that it was not around anyone's neck it would be easy for Merlin to destroy it with magic, but how was he supposed to do that with Guinevere watching?

Arthur looked at Merlin, who looked like he had no intention of performing magic in front of Guinevere.

"Guinevere…" said Arthur, and they both looked to her. Guinevere stared back at him with her eyebrows raised as though waiting for him to explain everything. However, Arthur had started speaking without actually knowing what he was going to say to her.

But they were distracted from their conversation as Merlin suddenly slumped forward, unconscious. As he fell, a hand reached from behind him and grabbed the amulet.

Arthur spun round to see Morgana standing behind Merlin, who was now lying unconscious at her feet.

"I see you are no longer under my spell," she said, "It is better this way actually. I want you to know the truth when I kill you."

"You will never be Queen, Morgana," Arthur said defiantly. He needed to delay Morgana; distract her. With Merlin unconscious they had no way to fight her. He needed Merlin to wake up. Now.

"But I _am_ Queen," she said in a falsely sweet voice, "and there is only one way you can stop me."

Morgana bent down and slipped the amulet around Merlin's neck.

"Go on then," she said, kicking Merlin so he rolled slightly closer to Arthur, "kill him."

Arthur felt like she had just stabbed him in the heart. After everything they had done to trick Morgana into removing the amulet from Guinevere, how on earth were they going to get her to take it off of Merlin? Especially since she was now aware of the fact that they knew about her. She had made it so that even if they managed to escape from her, the only way to break her curse was to kill Merlin. And so long as Merlin was alive, Morgana could not be killed.

Morgana laughed, "You are weak Arthur. Just as I thought."

"Morgana," said a teary-eyed Guinevere, "why are you doing this?"

Arthur grabbed Guinevere by the hand and pulled her away from Morgana, stepping in front of her. At the moment she didn't remember how dangerous Morgana was and he wanted to avoid a confrontation between the two of them at all costs.

"What happened to you, Morgana," he said, playing for time, "You were my friend, my sister."

"Who was never acknowledged as such!" she replied angrily.

"You can't blame me for the sins of my father."

"You are no different to him!" Morgana screamed, "You have always persecuted those with magic! Do you know what it is like to have to pretend – to hide who and what you are, knowing that the ones closest to you would have you killed simply for being yourself?!"

"My father was wrong about magic. I would have understood."

"You are a liar! You are only saying that to save your own skin! In all the years I knew you, you never once gave any indication of being sympathetic to magic users! You have made it perfectly clear how you feel about me and my kind!"

"I was wrong about magic before. But since I met Emrys…"

"Of course," Morgana cut him off, "you would use magic yourself when it benefits you but condemn anyone else who uses it! You are a hypocrite and you do not deserve to live another day!"

Morgana was visibly shaking with uncontrolled anger. She took a deep breath and then said in a voice that was only slightly calmer than her previous shouting, "I will enjoy killing you, Arthur Pendragon!"

She raised her hand towards him and shouted, "Adiedede!"

Arthur had no time to dodge as the spell flew towards him. He simply saw a bright light and knew that his death had come. He flinched instinctively and closed his eyes against the blinding light, but he felt no pain or any other indication that the spell had made contact. Then he opened his eyes and saw why.

Agravaine stood between Morgana and Arthur. He swayed on the spot for a moment, and then crumpled to the ground, dead. He had thrown himself in the way of the spell.

Arthur felt a strange detachment as he looked at his uncle's body. It had surely been Merlin's spell, as opposed to Agravaine's own will, that had caused him to sacrifice himself for Arthur, but Arthur couldn't help feeling an irrational sense of gratitude nonetheless. Agravaine had thoroughly betrayed him and Arthur would almost certainly have condemned him to execution if they ever got through this, but as he saw him dead now, he could feel nothing but pity for the broken man his uncle had become and the way that he had died at the hands of a friend.

However, Arthur did not have long to ponder these things. Agravaine had bought him only a moment. Morgana was temporarily stunned; even after Agravaine had betrayed her before, she seemed shocked by what he had just done.

Arthur drew his sword and pointed it at Morgana. He had purposely not done so before because he didn't want to provoke her. But if she was attacking him anyways he would rather die with a sword in his hand trying to defend himself than accept defeat.

"Your sword cannot stop me," said Morgana condescendingly.

"But I can," said a voice to the side.

Arthur whipped around to see that Merlin had gotten to his feet and was looking at Morgana with a grim intensity.

Merlin pulled a dagger out of his pocket, which Arthur recognized as his own. He must have dropped it in the woods in the shock of finding out the true identity of Emrys and Merlin must have picked it up.

Morgana snorted as though amused at the idea that Merlin intended to take her on with nothing but a dagger.

"You have lost Morgana," said Merlin darkly, and he slit his own throat.

"NO!" Arthur and Morgana both screamed at the same time.

Arthur ran towards where Merlin had fallen but Morgana pushed him out of the way and got there first.

She leaned over Merlin and chanted some kind of spell. At first Arthur thought that she was trying to heal Merlin, but he was lying completely still in an ever increasing pool of his own blood and was surely beyond the help even of magic. But then Arthur realized that Morgana had her hands not on Merlin, but on the amulet.

She finished her spell and her eyes glowed golden. Then she sat back, as if in relief.

Guinevere, who had burst into tears after Merlin fell, suddenly gasped, "I remember."

So the enchantment had been broken. But at such a cost. Morgana must have somehow undone the bond between herself and the amulet. After all, she was still alive even though she should have been killed when the curse was broken by Merlin's… by Merlin's…

Arthur grabbed Guinevere's hand and pulled her out of the room. It broke his heart to leave Merlin back there but he was beyond their help now, just as they were beyond his help. He needed to get Guinevere away from Morgana.

They had hardly left the room when they ran into a group of knights.

"Where is Morgana, my Lord?" one of them asked.

"In my chambers," Arthur replied shortly, trying to ignore the despair in his mind and take command of the situation, "Men, with me. Guinevere, keep going and find somewhere safe."

Arthur charged back into the room surrounded by knights, leaving Guinevere out in the hallway.

Morgana had gotten to her feet while Arthur had been in the corridor and she now looked condescendingly at the group of people who had just burst into the room.

"Your spell has been broken Morgana," said Arthur firmly, "Surrender. You cannot fight off all of Camelot!"

The knights moved to surround Morgana, and she glanced around keeping track of all their positions. She raised her hand in front of her.

"Emrys will be here any moment," Arthur added, hoping to unnerve Morgana and trying not to let his voice break at the thought of his friend, "You can't get away."

Morgana certainly did look unnerved by that statement. She grabbed something around her neck and shouted, "Bedyrene us! Astyre us thanonweard."

And she disappeared in a whirlwind.

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. At least she was gone.

He turned to his men, "Inform the others of the situation and conduct a search of the castle in case Morgana is still around."

The knights left.

Arthur walked to where his fallen best friend lay.

He sunk to his knees beside Merlin's body.

Now that the crisis was over, the grief struck in full force. Merlin had been the bravest, kindest and most selfless man that Arthur had even known. And he was gone forever. He had stayed at Arthur's side to protect him and used his great powers to help others with no thought of recognition for his actions. And his only reward was to lay broken in a pool of his own blood. No one would even know the great loss that, not just Arthur personally, but all of Camelot had suffered with Merlin's death. Those he died to save had no idea of all that he had done for them.

What was he going to do without Merlin? It was as though the brightest light in Arthur's life had been snuffed out.

Arthur found he had tears running down his face. He lifted Merlin's body and cradled it in his arms.

And then he heard a quiet voice ask, "Is everyone gone?"

Arthur whipped his head around to see who had spoken only to find that he was alone in the room.

He turned back to Merlin, only to see him staring up at him.

He actually dropped Merlin in shock.

"Ouch," said Merlin, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head where it had hit the floor.

"What… But," said Arthur incoherently.

He looked down at himself and Merlin. They were both covered in what was unmistakably blood.

"I wasn't actually dead," Merlin explained, "It was all an act. I just moved the knife close to my neck and did a blood conjuring spell."

"But the enchantment broke," said Arthur blankly. He was feeling rather lightheaded. Merlin was alive. He was speaking. He was alive.

"It broke because Morgana severed the link between the amulet and her soul."

The truth was really starting to sink in now that Arthur was recovering from the shock. Merlin was alive.

"You're alive!" he said in wonder, and gave an involuntary laugh of relief.

Merlin grinned at him.

Suddenly Arthur felt like strangling Merlin. What had possessed him to think it was acceptable to fake his own death and cause Arthur to needlessly grieve for the stupid idiot?

"I can't believe you did that!" he shouted.

Merlin simply continued grinning, only increasing Arthur's irritation. What kind of maniac comes up with a plan like that anyways?

"Why do you even know a spell that makes blood?!" he asked in frustration. Did Merlin frequently practice spells for the purpose of pretending to kill himself?

Merlin shrugged.

"It was in my book," he said, as though he thought that was a satisfactory explanation.

Arthur whacked Merlin over the head.

"If you ever do anything like that again…" he said warningly, leaving the rest of that sentence up to Merlin's imagination.

"Well, it worked!" Merlin protested and when Arthur continued to glare at him he added, "Besides, you gave me the idea."

Arthur found he could think of no argument to that so he simply got to his feet and wiped the blood that was on his hands onto his shirt. Merlin could wash it out later. It would serve him right.

Merlin chanted a spell and all of the blood that was splattered across both of them and a good portion of Arthur's chambers vanished. It seemed incredibly unfair to Arthur, who had been picturing Merlin's deep regret of his actions as he sat for hours scrubbing magically-conjured-blood off on the floor, Arthur's clothes, the bed…

"Merlin!" said a sudden voice in shock and amazement.

Arthur turned to see Guinevere standing in the doorway, staring at Merlin as though she was seeing a ghost.

Had she seen him do magic just now?

Guinevere ran across the room and hugged Merlin, sobbing into his shoulder, "I thought… I thought you were dead."

It seemed that she hadn't entered in time to see his magic after all. However, Arthur had no idea how they were going to explain this.

Merlin patted Guinevere awkwardly on the back and said, "Umm, yeah, sorry about that."

Guinevere pulled back and looked at both of them, "What happened?"

"Morgana used a magic amulet to enchant everyone in the castle," Merlin explained, "It made everyone believe that she had inherited the throne. Arthur and I remembered though, so we stole the amulet. Fortunately the curse is broken now."

Arthur couldn't help but feel Merlin had left out a few key points in his explanation.

"But I saw you kill yourself!" Guinevere protested.

"I don't remember that," said Merlin, "But the amulet messes with your mind. It makes you remember things that never happened and see things that aren't real. It was probably just the amulet playing tricks on you."

Guinevere didn't look like she really believed that explanation but she nodded and accepted it anyways. Arthur was reminded of the times that he had done the exact same thing while Merlin had been spouting some nonsense story. It had never seemed worth bothering to try to dig deeper and figure out what had really happened because it was Merlin and probably nothing to worry about anyways. Guinevere similarly also seemed to dismiss this as just "one of those Merlin things" as though she was also used to this kind of situation. Did Merlin have these moments with everyone in Camelot? Or was it just his close friends?

Arthur had been under the impression that Merlin must be a master of falsehoods in order to have deceived them all so thoroughly for so long, but he was now starting to think that the only reason Merlin hadn't been found out yet was because nobody actually took him seriously.

"Anyways, we should probably go and explain to people what has been going on now that everyone remembers," said Merlin.

Arthur suddenly felt very tired and he remembered that he had not slept the night before. And the past two days had been anything but restful. He looked longingly at his bed, but knew that before he turned in he should go and speak to the knights and councillors about what had happened. It must be quite unnerving for them all to have been enchanted and suddenly regain their memories without knowing what was going on.

"Let's go summon the council then," said Arthur gloomily.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Rise and Shine!"

Arthur groaned and rolled over to hide his eyes from the light pouring in through the curtains Merlin had flung open. How did he manage to be so annoyingly cheerful every morning?

Arthur started to doze again, his brain drifting back into blissful unawareness.

Merlin yanked the covers off of Arthur's bed and added them to a pile of laundry he was collecting. Arthur shivered and curled himself up in an attempt to keep warm without having to wake up completely. He could hear Merlin thundering about his room, doing his morning chores as loudly as possible, which was one of his usual tactics for disturbing Arthur's peaceful rest to make him get up and face a new day.

Then Arthur suddenly remembered the events of the days before and the utterly bizarre fact that Merlin could do magic; that Merlin was Emrys. Arthur suddenly felt much more awake. Merlin, his rude and incompetent manservant was a powerful sorcerer and it was the weirdest thought Arthur had ever woken up to.

He peeked his eyes open and saw Merlin laying out his outfit for the day. It was such a normal sight that he could almost believe that everything that had happened in the last two days had been a dream. So much stuff had been happening that he hadn't really had a chance to sit back and absorb the truth about Merlin since his discovering that Ygraine had been a shade and Emrys was his friend rather than his foe.

Arthur tried to consolidate everything he knew about Merlin with what he knew about Emrys. Merlin had been born with powerful magic and better control over it than most people, but couldn't really use it properly until he got hold of a magic book. He had come from Ealdor to Camelot and became Arthur's manservant. Also, Gaius knew of his magic since they met. Just from his basic backstory Arthur already had a lot of questions. Where did he get the magic book? How did Gaius know he had magic? And most importantly – why had he come to Camelot of all places?

Emrys had summoned an orb of light to save Arthur when he was in the caves of Balor. But Merlin had been dying of poison and back in Camelot at the time. Already more questions.

Arthur had forced Merlin to stay back in Camelot rather than accompany him on his mission to the forest of Magnaroth and then Emrys had turned up out of nowhere to save him when the mission went sour. That actually made sense.

Emrys had hidden himself in plain sight and never told Arthur his true identity because he needed to stay in the shadows in order to protect Camelot. He knew Arthur would be conflicted by whether to uphold or break his own decrees if he knew who Emrys was. Although Arthur wished Merlin could have trusted him with the truth, he realized that Merlin would know better than anyone of Arthur's mistrust of magic, especially before he had met Emrys. Arthur could hardly blame him for keeping his secret. If anyone was to blame for that, Arthur felt he was responsible himself for never giving Merlin reason to believe he wouldn't be rejected if Arthur found out the truth.

When Emrys had saved Arthur in disguise, that had been Merlin. And he had also been saving Camelot for years. Emrys had been the one to explode Morgana's immortal army, defeat Sigan, and stop at least several other threats to the kingdom that Arthur could think of. He was almost certain that he was right about that. Which meant that it was actually Merlin who had done those things – Merlin who was right here currently digging through Arthur's sock drawer.

Arthur sat up in bed, all thought of trying to get back to sleep abandoned. He was far too curious to sleep now. He had had so many questions he wanted to ask Merlin.

"Merlin," he started to say.

Merlin turned to him and said in shock, "You're awake!"

Arthur was rather insulted by Merlin's tone, which hinted at a lack of faith in Arthur's ability to get out of bed in the morning, but he ignored it because he had too many questions to bother reminding Merlin that he managed to get up every morning perfectly fine.

"Yes, Merlin," he said impatiently, "I want to ask you a question."

Merlin waited and actually starting to look a little nervous.

"Did you make Morgana's immortal army explode?" Arthur asked.

"Yes," Merlin replied, with an annoying lack of elaboration.

"How?" asked Arthur, sure that there must be an epic tale behind Merlin's single-handed defeat of an entire army of soldiers who could not be killed.

"I knocked over the cup of life and emptied it of the blood within."

"You had to knock over a cup?" Arthur asked, strangely disappointed.

Arthur had been imagining – well he didn't know what he had been imagining to be honest, but it was not that. If all it took to destroy the immortal army was to knock over a cup, Emrys the invincible sorcerer wasn't needed; Merlin the incompetent manservant could accomplish that with no magic. In fact, he did it on a regular basis.

"It was a little bit more difficult than that!" Merlin said defensively.

"I'm sure," said Arthur sarcastically.

"I had to get past an immortal army first! And Morgause!"

Arthur tried to hold back laughter but found he couldn't. Merlin sounded so indignant.

Then something else occurred to him.

"What ever happened to Morgause?"

"She's dead," Merlin replied, "When she cast the spell on the Cup of Life to create the immortal army, she had to bind the spell with her own soul. It was kind of like how Morgana had to bind herself to the Amulet of Dhakira – a bit different though. But it meant that when I broke the spell she had exactly one year to live. At least that's what Gaius' book said. Morgana said that I had condemned Morgause to a slow and painful death."

"Wait, when did you talk to Morgana about this?"

"When she captured me a couple months ago," Merlin said casually.

"When she what?!"

"Uhm," said Merlin, who had started fidgeting and avoiding Arthur's gaze.

Any actual explanation that he may or may not have been about to give was cut off by a sudden knock on the door.

"Enter," Arthur called, getting out of bed.

A guard opened the door, "Sire, there is a messenger here to see you. He seems very confused."

"Where is he from?" asked Arthur.

"He is from Camelot, my Lord."

Well he must be confused, thought Arthur. Why would a messenger from Camelot be sent to Camelot? And Arthur couldn't remember sending any messengers out recently that could be bringing back a reply message.

"Why is he confused?"

"We don't know, he won't tell us what the message he was supposed to be delivering is. He says it is confidential."

"Very well, I will see him shortly," Arthur replied and the guard left.

Arthur would have to finish questioning Merlin later. He was starting to wonder if he even really wanted to know the answer to some of his questions.

* * *

The messenger stood before Arthur in the throne room, looking as though he had just returned from a long journey.

"Sire," he said nervously, "I was sent to bring a message to King Ecsed, proposing a marriage between yourself and his daughter, Princess Eliza."

Arthur's breath hitched. He had forgotten about that.

"However, as I neared the kingdom I suddenly remembered that Morgana, who had been the one to send me on the quest, was not the queen. I have never failed to deliver a message, Sire, but I am not entirely sure how I ended up on the mission to deliver this one so I thought it best if I returned to Camelot."

The messenger bowed low as though in shame.

"So I'm sorry my Lord, but the message concerning your proposed engagement has not been delivered."

Arthur let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," he said, "You have done well. That message was a trick by Morgana and would have done great harm to the kingdom if it had been delivered. You have done a great service to your king."

The messenger was looking incredibly relieved at Arthur's reaction. The man must be really serious about his job if he was more concerned with having failed to deliver a message than finding out that he had been enchanted by a witch.

"Go and rest after your journey," Arthur added, "You will be compensated for your trouble."

The few people gathered in the room dispersed, except for Guinevere, who approached Arthur.

"Arthur, you have been so withdrawn lately," she said when the two of them were alone.

Arthur knew that had been true. He had hardly spoken to Guinevere of the things that had been happening as of late and it really was unfair to her.

"Tell me what is on your mind, Arthur," she said encouragingly.

"A lot of things have happened Guinevere," he said, not sure where to begin.

"Since you met Emrys in the woods?" she asked.

Guinevere had always been so perceptive. Of course she would notice when he had started shutting everyone out.

"Emrys has helped me a lot," he said, "And he said a lot of things to me that made me think."

Guinevere smiled in understanding. She put her hand on his arm, silently encouraging him to continue.

Arthur glanced around to make sure they truly were alone. He hadn't wanted to speak to anyone – even Guinevere – about this, but knowing who Emrys really was had steeled his resolve.

"I think that my father was wrong about magic," he said quietly, watching Guinevere's reaction, "I think that it is wrong to continue to outlaw it."

Guinevere looked less surprised than Arthur thought she would be.

"Are you going to change the laws?" she asked quietly.

"I would like to, in time," he said, and then added, "Do you think I'm mad?"

"Of course not, Arthur!" she said with certainty, "I know that magic can be a scary thing but I also trust you. I know that you would not believe what Emrys said without due cause to do so, or consider any action that could harm the kingdom. Besides, Emrys saved your life. Perhaps he is living proof that magic is not always evil."

Arthur felt his convictions strengthen with Guinevere's support.

"Emrys is a good man," he said, "He saved us all yesterday by breaking Morgana's curse. And he has saved Camelot so many other times that no one even knows about."

"You said when you ordered the search for him that he had an alias and lived in Camelot," she said, probing for information.

"I didn't know who he was at that time."

"You mean you know now?" asked Guinevere in surprise.

Arthur nodded, "He is someone that I trust completely. You are right; he is proof that not all magic is evil. I know him, and he is most certainly not evil. He has kept himself hidden for years in order to stay by my side to protect me and the kingdom, with no thought of reward for himself."

Guinevere's hand flew to her mouth in shock.

"Oh my goodness! Emrys is… Merlin!"

Arthur sputtered. When had he said that?!

"Mer… Merlin?" he said, trying to make it sound like her guess was completely off.

"I'm right, aren't I?" she said, clearly not falling for Arthur's attempt at acting stunned by the idea of Merlin being Emrys, "It all makes sense!"

What made sense? How on earth could Guinevere possibly have deduced the identity of Emrys when she had absolutely no evidence that even hinted at it.

"I mean, you ordered a search for Emrys and then out of nowhere you suddenly called that off and ordered Merlin to be killed on sight, and then you changed your mind about that as well. And then there was the whole thing last night where Merlin was dead, and then he wasn't and the explanation didn't really make any sense. And you said just now that Emrys had broken Morgana's curse, but it was Merlin who had the amulet when the enchantment broke."

Ok maybe she did have some evidence. But really, the idea of Merlin being a sorcerer was so farfetched; surely it should have been dismissed out of hand.

"Someone who has been by your side for years, who you trust completely," Guinevere continued, "It has to be Merlin! I'm right, aren't I?"

Arthur just stared at her. There probably wasn't any way he could deny it now.

The doors suddenly swung open and Merlin walked in.

"There you are," he said, "You are supposed to be on the training grounds. The knights are looking for you."

"Merlin, is it true?" asked Guinevere, "Are you Emrys?"

Merlin looked sharply at Arthur. First Agravaine and now Guinevere. He could practically hear the unspoken, "Are you just going to tell everyone?" in Merlin's accusing stare.

"What makes you think that?" asked Merlin, looking back to Guinevere and doing a much better job of acting surprised by the implication than Arthur had a few moments earlier.

Arthur sighed. There wasn't much point in trying to hide the truth from her now.

"Yes, it's true," he said, saving them all a lot of trouble.

Guinevere walked slowly towards Merlin, who was looking rather flustered. She placed a comforting hand on his arm and said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Merlin visibly calmed at her words.

"I'm not evil, I promise," he said in a tone that was half-joking and half-worried.

"I know," she said kindly.

Arthur edged out of the room, leaving them to have their moment on their own. Besides, he didn't exactly want to face Merlin after inadvertently letting his secret slip only a day after finding it out himself. Especially after the whole thing with Agravaine. Merlin was never going to let him live this down.

Anyways, he had to get to the training grounds. His knights wouldn't train themselves after all.

* * *

Arthur had a new matter on his mind as he ate his supper that night. After he had left Guinevere and Merlin earlier, he couldn't stop thinking about the things she had said. She had so much wisdom and kindness. Even before she had known who Emrys was, she had recognized goodness in his heart and had been willing to give magic a chance despite being wary of it. And she had pieced together clues that would have left Arthur stumped and figured out the best kept secret in Camelot all on her own. Arthur was more convinced than ever that she would make a wonderful queen.

Something else Arthur realized was that a large factor in his delay in marrying Guinevere had been Agravaine constantly advising him against it. Now that Arthur knew the truth about Agravaine he was starting to realize how he had let the man influence him in ways that had brought no good to him or the kingdom.

Arthur was now thinking about doing something that he had wanted to do for years – propose to Guinevere. He was certain he wanted her to be his Queen. He could think of no one better. He had wanted this for so long and he was tired of pointlessly delaying.

Arthur stirred his food around on his plate. He was feeling rather jittery. He could do it tonight. Guinevere was working now and wouldn't be home until late. He had time to plan.

Since he couldn't ask her father's permission, he would have to talk to Elyan. That shouldn't be difficult though. Elyan was not likely to forbid the marriage.

And he would need to do something special for Guinevere. Something romantic. Something from the heart. It had to be memorable.

Why couldn't he think of anything?

Merlin. That was it. He would go ask Merlin. Merlin often had surprisingly good ideas for romantic gestures he could do for Guinevere.

Arthur left his dinner uneaten and headed over to Gaius' chambers.

"Is Merlin here?" he asked Gaius when he arrived.

"He's in his room," said Gaius, hardly looking up from the potion he was mixing.

Arthur nodded to Gaius and crossed to the back of the room. He opened the door, entered Merlin's room and then froze.

Merlin was facing away from him, standing and leaning over his magic book which was sitting open on his desk. He was holding his finger at a point on the page that he was staring at intently as though concentrating on a single word. He was completely naked.

"What on earth are you doing, Merlin?!"

Merlin whipped around in surprise and clothes suddenly appeared on him.

"What…" said Arthur.

"Oh," said Merlin, turning bright red, "I was just…"

"You were just…" said Arthur, raising his eyebrows and preparing himself for what was certain to be a very interesting explanation.

"Well you remember that spell that I used on the amulet that allows me to turn something invisible so long as it is connected to me or a person I am touching?"

Arthur nodded slowly, a grin starting to spread across his face.

"Well I thought I might be able to use it to turn myself invisible, but the spell didn't quite have the effect that I was…" Merlin trailed off.

He was being drowned out by wild laughter.

"What did you come here for, Arthur?" asked Merlin grumpily.

"I... came here... for…" Arthur gasped out through bursts of laughter, "romantic advice."

He completely lost it.

* * *

Eventually Arthur had managed to get a grip on himself and Merlin had suggested filling Guinevere's room with hundreds of lit candles and leading her there blindfolded before proposing to her. It was a surprisingly poetic idea for someone Arthur had found accidentally turning his own clothes invisible.

Elyan had given his permission gladly and said he would spend the evening in the tavern to give Arthur and Gwen their moment alone.

It had taken Merlin less than a minute to set up all the candles and light them with magic, which had been a sight in itself. Guinevere had also been suitably touched by the sight of her home all lit up. Leading her mysteriously to her home blindfolded before revealing the romantic scene and getting down on one knee had indeed created the perfect moment.

And she had said "yes".

Arthur was an engaged man.

Soon to be married to the woman of his dreams.

He felt like he was walking on air.

* * *

She looked beautiful as she walked down the aisle wearing a dress of purple silk and glowing with happiness. Arthur felt like the luckiest man alive.

She knelt on the steps before him and looked up into his eyes.

Arthur held a crown up for all to see and as he lowered it onto her head he pronounced, "By the sacred laws vested in me, I crown you Guinevere, Queen of Camelot."

He took her hands as she rose to her feet. She leaned in and they shared a kiss before she took her place at his side.

As cries of, "Long live the Queen!" sounded through the hall, Arthur looked out into the crowd.

Elyan looked like he could not be more proud of his sister.

The other knights and people cheered for Guinevere as enthusiastically as they always cheered for Arthur. It seemed as if all of his worries that people would have a hard time accepting Guinevere as their queen had been for nothing. They loved her.

And Merlin looked like he couldn't be happier for his two best friends. Arthur had spoken to Merlin about a lot of things during the time preparing for the wedding and he had been amazed by some of the things he had learned about his friend. Even now, there were still unanswered questions but they had time enough to get through everything.

As he looked out at his friends cheering in the crowd and felt his wife's hand in his, Arthur knew that he was surrounded by the most wonderful people he could ever have hoped to know.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **I am currently working on writing a third sequel, which will be the final part of this series.**

 **Sorry I skipped over most of the stuff where Merlin explains things that happened in the show to Arthur. It is interesting at first but I have read so many reveals that I get really bored by those bits now since there isn't really anything that can be done to make it original so it is basically just the same conversation in every fanfic.**

 **The show never properly explained how Morgause died. Merlin smashed her into a pillar and then the next time you see her she is inexplicably weak and disfigured and dying and then Morgana later claims that Merlin was responsible for that. There is no reason why smashed into pillar = face looks like it was splashed with acid. Also, Morgana didn't even see Merlin smash her into the pillar. But Morgana did know that Merlin was responsible for emptying the cup. So I have a headcannon that it was Merlin breaking the Cup of Life spell that killed her. It was part of the deal that if the cup was emptied, all the immortal knights would be destroyed, so I find it quite plausible that the spell would also involve a mandatory slow and painful death for the sorcerer who cast the spell it if it was broken.**


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